How APU Is Enhancing the Remote Learning Experience for Students | Azusa Pacific University

With the shift to remote learning to help keep the Azusa Pacific University community healthy and safe, fall 2020 won’t look like any other time in the school’s history—including the spring’s emergency transition to remote instruction by Stephanie Thurrott.

Faculty and staff have been working hard all summer to ensure that students continue to have rich, rewarding opportunities to learn, connect, and grow. They’re ready—and excited—to reconnect with students.

“Our pivot to remote-hybrid learning for fall 2020 presents challenges and opportunities for us to face together,” said APU Provost Rukshan Fernando, Ph.D. “In every college and school at APU, the faculty are engaged in deep work this summer to ensure a rich learner-centered environment for the upcoming semester. We are focused on providing our students with the life-changing educational experiences for which APU is known.”

Remote learning is not a new endeavor for the university, as APU has offered successful online degree programs for well over a decade. However, this fall, every course will be remote with significant investment in optimizing the online experience for classes normally taught face-to-face...

Designing Coursework for Remote-Hybrid Learning
Faculty at APU have been busy designing courses and adapting learning activities that are compelling and engaging in an online environment. A sample schedule in a fall 2020 class that meets three times a week might look like this:

    Before the week starts, students read an article or chapter, or watch a video or micro-lecture.
    On Monday, the class meets together on Zoom and the instructor gives a short lecture. Then, the students break into Zoom rooms, work together to solve a problem, and regroup to share their solutions. The instructor assigns another activity for them to complete before their Wednesday Zoom class.
    Wednesday’s Zoom class might be a lecture or time to work on group projects, with another activity assigned for Friday.
    Friday’s Zoom class could be individual presentations, with the next activity assigned for Monday.

Courses will all be different and adapted to the content of the class, but most will blend synchronous and asynchronous components. Each course’s structure will be outlined in its syllabus. 
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Source: Azusa Pacific University