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February 21, 2018

Continuing Education: A Course is Born

On occasions when I meet new people, and they ask me what I do, I say:

“I write and edit Masters courses for teachers that they can use for a lane change or license renewal.”

<Blank stare>

I elaborate. “Teachers have to keep up their licenses, you know, so I write courses that they take to help them do that,” I share. “I research and write about all sorts of topics that are of interest to teachers. I also get to use my past teaching experiences to help me write stuff that’s really relevant and applicable to educators.”

There are some questions, of course. Because they are trying to be polite.

“And they get graduate credit for them? How?”
“Where do you get the information? Do you use a textbook?”

And the occasional: “Wow. I’ve never met anyone before who does that sort of thing.”

<awkward silence>

Mercifully, someone will usually make a comment about the weather or the food, or I will say something self-deprecating to change the subject.

I know that I sound like I’m a blast at parties.
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Learners Edge helps thousands of teachers each year fulfill their professional development goals, but very little has been shared about how we do what we do for you.

Until now!

Here’s an exclusive look into how our Curriculum and Instruction team creates a course from start to finish!

All of us in Curriculum and Instruction are teachers, so it’s incredibly important to us that we create content that’s credible, relevant, and applicable; you deserve the best for your time and money!

To stay current with topics and trends, our team reads a lot, all the time: education websites, Facebook and Twitter feed, anything that relates to education. We review current text samples from education publishers. Teachers tell us what they want to see in our course catalog through course reviews, surveys, and in conversations about content.

Once we decide on a topic, the search for a perfect text begins. To keep our course prices reasonable, we aim within a price range agreed-upon with our regular publishing partners. Texts must have a solid blend of research-supported theories and applicable practice. Plus, it’s gotta be readable: If we are bored by the text, we are pretty sure our teachers will be, too!

With the text and topic selected, we fight each other to decide who will write the course. There are approximately 60 steps to this process! We love this part of our job; it means that we are making a difference to our favorite people: educators!

Writing a 3-credit course takes anywhere from 40-60 hours, depending on the topic. It’s a careful task that involves balancing rigor and workload with applicable assignments. We then search for relevant media – articles or videos – that reinforce learning within the course.

Once the course has been written, reviewed by at least 2 members of the team, and then fine-tuned and formatted, we send the course to each of our 9 College/University Partner institutions for approval. Those Partners will send the course through an approval process of their own, communicating with Learners Edge to request changes or clarifications.

Then, we put the finishing touches on the course and wait for our next session to open up for registration. At that time, the course is LIVE and ready for you to sign up! Once folks have had a chance to take our course, we read through every bit of feedback and make any needed adjustments to ensure smooth learning for every educator who takes it.

Our team absolutely loves creating courses that meet your needs and expectations, so please keep telling us what you need  most to continue your amazing practice! We get so excited when we can bring you relevant and valuable courses to help you shine.

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