Community Building in Online PBL Courses: Instigating Criticality

As post secondary institutions continue to endeavor to address changing stakeholder expectations and policy directions, new curriculum models that allow for choice and learner flexibility are required. One approach that shows promise in this area is online problem-based learning (PBL). This paper discusses a case-study of the implementation of a problem-based learning pedagogical framework that fosters the development of meaningful teacher-learner; learner-learner, and learner-content relationships (vanOostveen & Desjardins, 2013) in an online Bachelor’s program in adult education and digital technology. Within this context, the attributes and affordances of a program design model on facilitating online community are examined.

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