How to Prepare for a Meeting with a Digital Learning Consultant

Your school is ready to start thinking about remote teaching and launching or expanding its online learning program, and you’ve got a meeting scheduled with a consultant. What can you do to prepare for this meeting so you can make the most out of the initial consult?

SRM’s EVP of Operations, Michele Baird, and VP of Learning Strategy, Kelvin Bentley, suggest some key questions your team can ask itself ahead of time that will help both you and the consultant have a more effective, substantive discussion.

First, you should be sure to clarify your goals:

• How many courses do you need to transition?
  • Will there be more in the future, which could impact infrastructure decisions made now?
• What format would you like to adopt for remote teaching or online programming?
  • Asynchronous/synchronous: Will your courses be happening in real time?
  • Blended/fully online: Will your students be able to complete their course completely remotely, or will there be a brick-and-mortar component?
  • Teacher-led/facilitated: Will the emphasis be on direct teacher instruction or on peer learning?
• Will faculty be doing the work, or do you want to fully outsource?

Then, you need to look at what you already have in place:

• What instructional content, assignments, and assessments need to be reviewed and/or developed to determine how best to offer them within a learning management system?
• What instructional technologies are already available for use at your institution to offer remote and/or fully online courses?

You may not have answers to all of these questions before your meeting, but the process of trying to clarify your goals will enable you to have a deeper, more valuable conversation with your consultant.