Friday 13 December 2019

Online course on play in adulthood

Screenshot of the front page of an online course, theories of play in adulthood
I've been pondering (for a while!) what we could do as a course in adult play - something that covered a bit of theory to help people come from the same place, but also included practical elements and reflection to link theory to practice.

One thing I thought might work is either an online course, or perhaps a blended approach but mainly online. So as a first step I've created a short (should take just under 1 hour!) online module / course that really briefly intoduced some play scholars and called it "Theories of Play in Adulthood". It's a mix of short (and simple) videos and some textual content.

You can access it here: https://coursecraft.net/courses/z9ZyR 

I thought this might act as a starting point, then other online modules could contain more practical advice (but linking back to theories) and be slightly longer, especially as they'd include activities to complete (the first one is just reading / watching vids). So maybe have:
  • Theories of play (about 1 hour long)
  • Enabling play (Short bit of theory / reading, then tips, examples, and practical exercises)
  • Playful training approaches (Short bit of theory / reading, then tips, examples, and practical exercises)
  • Playful leadership approaches (Short bit of theory / reading, then tips, examples, and practical exercises)
  • Any others?
If people were up for it, these could then be combined with some form of assessment. So a small charge for each module, but do "Theories of play", "Enabling play", plus one other module and people could submit a creative, practical, playful assessment for marking (for an extra charge), which would result in feedback and a certificate of some sort - preferably together with a "sharing" day where people completing the course would share what they've done.

So does anyone want to do the really short theory one and let me know if they think I should create a full course (3 modules for starters?). Plus I'd also extend the first theory one slightly once a few people have done it - think it's a bit too brief at the moment! At the end of this first module I've put a few questions to gauge interest and ask about content, etc. I'll then ponder whether to do an actual "proper" course with multiple modules...