Macquarie University education experts have launched a new course on Coursera to support teachers with online learning and teaching.

The new Specialisation called ‘Online Learning Design for Educators’ is set to revolutionise how educators approach online teaching and arm themselves with the skills, knowledge and confidence to deliver effective and engaging online learning and teaching.

Free to all staff via the Coursera Response Program for Macquarie University, the three-course Specialisation is perfect for educators who are familiar with face-to-face teaching but are now adapting to online environments, as well as those who design or deliver online learning experiences.

Course Instructor and School of Education Associate Professor Iain Hay says the Specialisation is focused on quality professional learning based in research, but with a practical application.

“We have used a research-informed approach to underpin the development of this Specialisation,” Iain explains. “There is a clear need for a Specialisation like this as educators have had to pivot quickly to deliver online teaching that is relevant, engaging, and appropriate for a diverse range of students in varying contexts.”

The Specialisation is split into three courses:

1. Online Education: The Foundations of Online Teaching

This course demonstrates how to reimagine and redesign previous face-to-face offerings into an online environment, and how to optimise online offerings so that students feel connected, engaged and motivated to learn.

2. Create Video, Audio, and Infographics for Online Learning

Course two explores how incorporating video, podcasts, infographics as well as text, makes learning memorable, meaningful and retainable.

3. Online Teaching: Using Zoom to Connect with Learners

This course delves into the Zoom functions that are relevant to teaching a live online class and provides practical, real-world examples of how to use these functions successfully in a live class setting.

Each course takes approximately 15 hours to complete and can be undertaken as a stand-alone course or as a three-course Specialisation. It is estimated that the Specialisation will take three to four months to complete.

Registrations are now open for Courses 1 and 2, with Course 3 opening for registrations on 27 September. Staff can access this Specialisation using their MQ email address through the Coursera for Macquarie Dashboard. More information on Macquarie’s Coursera courses and FAQs are available here.