Get a chance to go behind the scenes of two free, open courses developed by a non-traditional educational provider, Longwood Gardens. Learn how to map the development of your own open course from concept to implementation including resource management, multimedia production, and sharing your intellectual capital with a global audience.
Desiring a chance to share a concept with the world but don’t know exactly how to have your idea turn into an engaging and enticing open course? Looking to expand the reach of your educational impact with a global audience? If so, join Longwood Gardens’ Instructional Designer, Susan Caldwell, and Education Administrator, Matthew Ross, as they share their insights on the challenges and opportunities presented by taking on the multi-faceted responsibility of developing a free, open course. They will open up and share a candid perspective on the process of developing a series of open courses as a non-traditional higher education institution.
In 2018, Longwood launched two open courses, Everything about Orchids and Everything About Aquatics, programs designed to extend visitors’ experience beyond their on-site engagement and foster a continuum of learning that encourages repeat visitation and a deeper connection to Longwood’s educational mission. Longwood Gardens is the living legacy of Pierre S. du Pont, inspiring people through excellence in garden design, horticulture, education and the arts. The Education Department's mission is to provide curricular and extracurricular instruction, including the library services and archival resources to support education and research, in the science and art of horticulture and their contributions to health and wellness, for persons of all ages.
This workshop will provide a chance to see the inner-workings of what it takes to produce two intensive, engaging, educational programs that highlight our collections, share expertise from a variety of content developers, and promote best practices in horticulture. We will briefly evaluate the most successful aspects of the courses and use them as a platform for a deeper discussion and break-out session, which will culminate with attendees creating a road-map to guide them from conception to implementation of their very own open course. We will collaboratively explore the needs and opportunities to increase the impact of educational programs through an innovative brainstorming session.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their ideas and concepts that they think might make a compelling open course as we will develop a roadmap for success by outlining a design concept, a needs assessment, and a rough framework for project management. Guests should also bring a laptop, tablet, or other device capable of working on live documents in an online setting to share with the group during our collaborative session.