Learn more about this course.

Learning online with Deakin

At Deakin University, we believe the best learning occurs when we offer engaging learning experiences and make your learning outcomes clear.

View transcript

3.8

MARCUS O’DONNELL: Hello. I’m Marcus O’Donnell and I’m Director of Digital Learning at Deakin University. Deakin is one of the pioneers of online learning and producing high quality innovative courses is in our DNA. It’s just what we do. Our promise is a brilliant education for where you are and what you want to be. Our courses are designed to stimulate and challenge you and they draw on our world class research and our deep connections with industry and community groups. And importantly, we believe that it’s really you the learners who make our courses work.

44.1

In each course, you have a great opportunity to join in with people from all over the world, to try out your ideas with them and to learn by listening to their perspective. We believe that’s the heart of learning. So you’ll notice that at the end of each step in this course, there’s a chance for you to make a contribution. We call it your task. It’s more than just making a comment. It’s what brings the course alive for everyone. Our educators bring their years of research and expertise to the courses we put together. And every learner also brings their life experience to the course. And it’s the meeting of these two things that turns abstract ideas into real knowledge and skills.

94.2

We talk about the three C’s that guide these long exchanges with one another. Be curious, be constructive, and be compassionate. Let’s unpack each of these for a minute. Being curious means always being ready to ask the next question, being open to finding out something new and being prepared to have your own ideas challenged. Being constructive is the other side of that. It’s about carefully stimulating other learner’s curiosity, not closing anyone down with a quick or harsh comment, being careful of the way you respond to each other, which brings us to compassion. How do we stand in another’s shoes? How do we really see from their perspective?

145.9

At a time when people are building walls and closing down borders, we believe that the power of education is in opening up our world so that we can see each other more clearly and live with each other more peacefully. So thanks for joining us. Now it’s over to you let’s have some fun learning together.

Deakin’s online courses are based on a few, but important, learning principles. To get the most out of this course, we encourage you to keep in mind the following.

Our learning philosophy

Deakin University is a pioneer in innovative digital learning. Several key principles underpin all our online courses, which are designed to:

challenge you with new and interesting ideas
prompt you to connect and engage with other learners and Deakin educators
test your knowledge and understanding against clearly defined learning outcomes.

Want to keep
learning?

This content is taken from
Deakin University online course,

Coaching the Mental Game

View Course

Get involved

Getting the most out of your online learning experience with Deakin begins by getting involved.

Our courses are designed for adult learners from around the globe who, like you, have diverse work, life and study experiences.

One of the key ways to optimise your learning is to participate in the tasks set by your educators and engage in topic-related conversations with other learners.

Learning through conversation

In this course, you’re invited to comment on topics, discuss issues and ask and/or answer questions.

Some of the ways you can do this include:

adding a post to start or continue a conversation by building on what others are saying
using reply to ask a question or make a comment that indicates you’re interested in what someone else has said and encourages them (or others) to expand on their ideas
making a comment that links, compares or contrasts different themes in the conversation
disagreeing with a comment in a curious, constructive and compassionate manner
using like to indicate which comments most resonate with you.

Your task

Watch the above video from Associate Professor Marcus O’Donnell, Director of Digital Learning at Deakin University, and practise getting involved by reflecting on the following and using the comments to join the conversation:

Why do you think getting involved is an important part of online study?
How will you get involved?
What barriers might you encounter to getting involved and what are your tips for overcoming these?

You may also want to take a few minutes to find out how to make the most of your Deakin FutureLearn experience by reading this short guide.

Want to keep learning?

This content is taken from Deakin University online course

Coaching the Mental Game

View Course

See other articles from this course

This article is from the free online

Coaching the Mental Game

Created by

Join Now

Reach your personal and professional goals

Unlock access to hundreds of expert online courses and degrees from top universities and educators to gain accredited qualifications and professional CV-building certificates.

Join over 18 million learners to launch, switch or build upon your career, all at your own pace, across a wide range of topic areas.

Start Learning now

Short courses

ExpertTracks

Microcredentials

Online degrees

Learn more about this course.