Many institutions now subscribe to online learning tools such as Blackboard and D2L.

This means your Continuing Education Department has access to online technology at low to no cost.

But, how best to use it? The first wave of online programming (including MOOCs - Massive Open Online Courses) has crashed over us, leaving many lessons learned - both positive and negative - in its wake.

So, now is a good time to review the state of the art and see how to best  employ online technologies to actually support our learning objectives.

What is mixed-mode programming and when is it preferable to pure online delivery? On the other hand, what sort of courses and programs are best suited to pure online delivery? What sort of learning do online tools best support, and how is this best facilitated?  How can online tools best support face-to-face classes?

These questions are becoming increasingly urgent as networked devices and online experiences become more and more a daily part of our students’ lives. They will expect us to use such tools to support their experiences whatever the time and wherever they are. So this is a conversation we all need to join. Start by taking part in this fun and informative roundtable at the 2017 LERN Annual Conference, Nov. 15-18 in Portland, Oregon.

Roundtable: Online and Mixed Mode Courses moderated by Daniel Thorpe of Vancouver, BC