10 WAYS TO UTILISE LEARNING ARCHES TO SET AND SUSTAIN ENGAGEMENT IN ON/OFF LEARNING & COURSES.

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Learning arches allow educators to visualise,?'bring to life'?and consolidate learning content and learning design. Through revealing new perspectives for how the content is and can be connected, unfolded, taught, delivered, paused, learned, embodied and made more relevant for the students, learning designers see learning form the student perspective.?As teachers and trainers, LA can support more creative confidence in our craft by providing a minimal visual structure both online & offline.

LA support more transparency, flexibility, dialogue, collaboration, clear communication and facilitation of online learning spaces and learning processes with purpose & intent. This in turn leads to more student ownership, autonomy, engagement and motivation.

At the bottom of this page are links to LA tools and manuals. The full article from which this is taken from is here .

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01: Set the full programme(macro-level) through telling the story of the arches and how they will unfold. Include some of the highlights and share the 'high & low actions'(1), online & offline tasks, the flow, learning style, expectations and timing.

* Send the (interactive - see toolbox below) learning arches in advance of the course starting, together with any prep work or software download/training.?If possible, invite alumni to make a 2 min. clip about their experience of the programme/course and offer 1-2 pieces of advice ; )

02: Set the context, case and experience to make the content, theories and methods relevant and meaningful to the learners. Create the ‘call to adventure’ and the intended professional and personal learning growth.

* Use storytelling and give examples, and invite students to do the same, with time to prepare if possible.

*Build on the invitation you sent before the programme started. Speak to them on an individual and team level when possible. Try to use names and maybe include something from their pre-course application or questionnaire, if not individually, then generally. Make them feel seen!

03: Invite the students(micro-level) to be part of the learning journey 'run' through online, arch by arch, supported by dialogue & live Q&A (in combination with zoom). This transparency-and-openness starts to build trust, excitement and the type of learning culture you are trying to create and deliver. Take your time!?

* LA also help students prioritise when to join the sessions (if they are busy or need to prioritise). So, you can stress key TEAM or major(multiple arch) Landings. Demonstrate early on how you intend to listen to the students and make them feel seen & heard. Be consistent with this during delivery, and reply to their comments and use there name to personalise it, keep it short, upbeat-encouraging and positive, but also challenging!

04: Set the desired working conditions, learning style & platforms (on and off-line). Set this every time when you are setting sessions. Sustain engagement through different learning styles and by mixing up the format, pace & tempo of delivery.?Pay attention to the teams diversity.

* Find the best Learning Style that suits the arch, subject, content, participants, time, available tech, access, ambition. Balance the time and need for theory & methods, practice and reflection.?

* Remember, you will learn more about the participants as you go along, so be prepared to adjust and make changes incrementally. (use landing to gather feedback)

05: Work on the three learning levels, individual, group and team. This ensures that the entire team share the same learning, methodology and/or experience. It creates many options to reflect and de-briefing on theory, methods and practice. It also create the context for student guidance groups

* project group sessions during and outside of online classes. Usually groups of 3-4 students that support each others learning and understanding. Very useful if some students miss sessions.

06: Support with new knowledge (online resources) through 'just-in-time learning' or 'knowledge disturbances'. Design the perfect online session/webinar (using arches) to create engagement and unpack knowledge. Do not front-load sessions with knowledge, data and input. Ask yourself, 'how little is enough', to share and get started, and then after any type of practice or discussion, provide the second dose when the understanding is little higher.

* 'knowledge disturbances' can be offered on request, in advance, or as a reward. Gamification (2).

07: Design the perfect week/block with the students and when and how to activate literature or reading material, course work and practical (field) assignments

* Use Google Slides, Forum or classroom to set clear tasks and activities.

* Remember to allow time to land the previous arch and set and land the current one. Allow extra time for looped landings.

08: Bring the learning outcomes alive through setting each arch from the micro to the macro and by high-lighting what SKAV will be practiced and learned. Make the case for why what they are about to learn is useful and relevant and how it related to the bigger purpose. Support this through offering (best) examples, inspiration, stories, videos etc.

* Create space to discuss these and support the process of co-creating a shared vocabulary & understanding for what they are learning. Use Google Slides to start a 'parking lot' for terms, comments, content, tool & method suggestions, inspiration, reference and advice.

09: Balance the teacher’s role and input (interventions) versus the autonomy and challenge of the students (breakthrough). Zoom in, speak out, host, facilitate and lead the way through your Learning Arches, from the micro, meso or macro levels.

* Explore and play with learning styles and how to ‘un-package the pursuit of knowledge’. Gamify it!

10: Clarify and align with the students around communication, roles, feedback, suggestions, modifications, reflection, improvements and how they will be applied?if?possible to the current and future versions of the course or programme. Be sure to support with time at the end of the webinar (or shortly after with framed reflection Qs), to reflect on the session and overall learning journey. Check out the landing tools above!

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"Always, design and deliver education that is?authentic and?opportunistic in?nature, experimental and?real in?praxis.?All else is rudimentary.”

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• watch part 1 of my recent webinar for the Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Introducing the Kaospilot and our ELP (Enterprising Leadership in Practice) and the learning arch design methodology

_____________________________________________________________________This is a chapter from the LEARNING ARCHES FOR ONLINE LEARNING article here .

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THE LEARNING ARCHES’ TOP 10?

1. Visualisation of the learning journey & adventure and how and why the hidden curriculum will be brought to life
2. Supports Dialogue, transparency, meaning & ownership of their own learning
3. A Way to unpack learning, action & knowledge & balance the Pedagogical compass.
4. Complexity should increase over time, Always with a second chance to practice, whilst you get off the stage. act-learn-adapt-repeat
5. Setting: Always meet your learners where they at (MTWTAA) and adjust the learning ambition, level and style (Diagnostic)
6. Always set the call to adventure (with excitement & relevance) and the connection, conditions & context before content.
7. Holding: Always balance frustration v breakthrough & reward it! (Formative)?
8. Pay special attention to crossing the threshold to grow craft, character & confidence.
9. Landing every arch from the micro to the Macro and balance practice v process in assessment! (Authentic & Summative)
10. Use rituals when Setting & Landing to create meaningful learning experiences, not transactional ones.

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(1)?

‘High Action’?refers to periods (arches) of applied and experiential based learning and practice.?‘Low Action’?refers to the periods (where we land the High Action arches) with both reflective learning of self working with others, the evaluation of learning styles and arches and of the analytical level to determine theory and knowledge gaps.

(2)

Gamification?is the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts. It can also be defined as a set of activities and processes to solve problems by using or applying the characteristics of game elements. Wikipedia.

At Kaospilot, we try to apply these principles to our learning journeys as a form of human-centred, whole or full person learning, engaging head, hands and heart. The origin of Learning Arches & Journeys was sparked by the metaphor of a rollercoaster ride, that delivers high & low action, feelings, emotions, stimulus, provocation and engagement., KAOS! Gamification supports action, problem and challenge based learning and leadership to boost personal, professional and team accountability. According to?Yu-kai Chou , there are8 Core Drives of Gamification ?(that can be applied to LA).