UPDATE

COVID-19

Construct Rapid Response Support

With the worldwide outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), life is asking a lot of almost everyone right now- and we’re here to help you.

Don't judge online teaching by what you see in the next few weeks. Great online learning takes time, and the teaching and learning experiences will continue to improve over time.

- Katie Bradford, COO

We are aware that teachers across the world are scrambling right now to move their instruction online. Students are concerned about meeting educational and professional requirements. Stress levels are high. 

 

How can Construct, an online learning company, help teachers transitioning their materials online for the first time?

 

Below is a list of resources, advice, and frequently asked questions that will help you get started. If you have other questions and concerns or want to get in contact with our team, please fill out the contact form at the bottom of the page. We're always happy to help.

Online classes, and teaching face-to-face classes online, isn't quite the same thing

- Michael Atkinson, CLO

Keep an eye on our most recent blog posts for more tips and updates on best practices for transitioning to online learning.

Rapid Response Solutions

Construct can consult and work side-by-side with your team to offer wrap-around services to support new online course development, focusing on novice online instructors. 

Discovery Meeting

  • General Consultation

  • Understand the faculty's needs

  • Project Management Plan

Workflow Support

  • Recommended   tools, tips, & templates

  • Transition & Management Plans

  • Accessibility Compliance

Page Templates

  • Homepage layout for replication & reuse

  • Module & content page templates (banners, icons, placeholders, instructional text)

Media
Assets

  • 1 x self recorded video with templated motion graphics per course

  • 2 x infographics per course

Content
Build

  • Instructional text written by Construct

  • Instructor content collected, formatted and delivered inside your course

Assessments

  • Discussions, peer reviewed activity or case study, multiple choice questions

  • Students upload assignments and receive grades

Frequently asked questions

Does this impact the work we’re doing at Construct?

At Construct, building trust and relationships with our customers is always our top priority, and now is no exception. We’re only as good as the work we deliver and the promises we keep. If we’ve promised to deliver high quality online learning experiences for your institution, we’ll keep that promise.



How quickly can you move online?

We can’t help you build a fully-developed online program tomorrow, but that’s okay. We want to help you create the most effective, learning theory driven, educational resources. We also recognize that time isn’t necessarily permitting “designing online learning” but rather, getting learning online. For the time being, we’ll help you create a minimum viable product (MVP) so that your students can continue learning. Depending on the number of courses involved, we can help you create a MVP with about three hours of an instructor’s time.



What resources do we have to help move online quickly?

Construct has a global, agile team that is able to work nearly 24 hours a day to make efficient changes. This isn’t a new development in response to a crisis but how we’ve always worked. We have the capacity and the expertise across the globe to help expedite your move to online.



What advice do we have for organizations trying to undergo a quick digital transformation?

Don’t be too hard on yourself and don’t let “best” be the enemy of “good!” Having your instruction online is far better than zero instruction. We can help with all of the rest of the details, such as accessibility, engagement, effectiveness, and so on.



What partnership resources do we offer?

We are partnered with several learning companies such as Instructure, Noodle, and Pearson so that we provide you with a variety of resources. This includes greater access to technology, such as an LMS (Learning Management System), and more layers of quality control, personalized interaction, project management, and oversight.



How does online instruction delivery change your courses?

Typically online instruction is the product of months of learning and media design and development work. In a pinch, if an instructor replaces live instruction with online instruction, they will experience tradeoffs. The instructor and students might find it more difficult to have a back and forth conversation with all of the social queues that live interaction provides. But online instruction can also provide new opportunities, like making it easier for students to pause, rewind, and review the instruction in a flexible manner (at their own pace, at their own time, on the go, etc.)



Does moving online diminish faculty-student communication and interaction?

Though students and instructors don’t have the ability to meet face-to-face in strictly online learning environments, communication and interaction is not lessened or diminished; rather, it’s different. Courses built with Construct integrate built-in messaging capabilities, video lectures, and enabled online video conferencing so that neither learners nor educators will lack the tools they need to get the most out of their learning experience.



Why is learning design so important for moving online?

Online learning requires preparation and expertise just like live instruction does, but in different ways. For example, media must be created that is effective and engaging, because students are alone at their computers; the technology interface should include navigation that is intuitive and not confusing; some concepts will need to be explained differently than they are in a live setting, so that students can readily understand without someone there to explain; and so on. Learning happens differently online than it does in person, and so designing it appropriately is important.



How can we help you manage your instruction in the short term?

Right now, you’re just trying to figure out how to move the basics to an online learning environment: transfering lectures, assignments, and assessments along with supporting students and faculty. You may need an extra set of helping hands to get through this initial process. We can help you do that through one-to-one support of your team. One of our learning designers can sit with your instructors to hear their concerns and address them head on, or our learning technologists can quickly build a basic course to help support learners.



How can we help you manage your instruction in the long term?

In the longer term, we’ll use the relationships we’ve already built with your team to help you take advantage of the unique opportunities complete online learning can add to your classroom. This includes, in-house production and design of custom videos and graphics, the integration of learning strategy, around the clock support, and advanced technology implementation.



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