The learning content that has previously been delivered through having a trainer stand and speak, with learning aids like handouts and slides to support the learning, is now made available online. Talks can now be replaced with video and audio clips, text and graphics that learners access at the times of day and at a pace that suits them and their preferred way to learn. Like to learn in little bites each day? You can do that. Or prefer to set aside longer blocks of time to engage with learning materials? You can do that too. Not understood something the first time through? You can go back over it without holding up other learners. Using an online learning platform like Moodle (the Learning Management System (LMS) used by this site) means we can also build in a variety of interactive ways for learners to check their progress and learning as they go, such as missing word questions or picture quizzes. Subject specialists can enable learning beyond the times and places when they are available to be in front of people. We can massively increase the accessibility of learning.

Clearly, this aspect of the Open Christian Learning model is very well-suited to enabling the knowing dimension of learning, but that doesn’t mean it has to be exclusively about knowledge and understanding. Action and reflection can be included that enable all four dimensions of learning – behaving, thinking and being too. Own-time learning, as the name suggests, takes place in your own time and so is predominantly focused on individual learning, but not exclusively; forums and other collaborative media online make it possible to be part of a learning community, sharing the learning journey together, even before you meet each other at the same time.

Being part of a learning community is an even richer experience, however, when we do meet other learners and share our learning with each other. Live sessions, either in-person or online, are thus an important feature of the Open Christian Learning approach. This is when the social aspects of learning come to the fore. Preparatory tasks completed in own-time learning can be brought to fruition in small group and plenary discussions, where our different perspectives can enrich our learning by helping us change our minds or understand our own thoughts even more clearly. There is more time and space to ask questions of each other and explore because we are not under pressure to get through the input that the trainer needs to deliver. Live sessions can be flexible and respond to learners’ agendas because the curriculum content input has already been covered in own-time learning. The learning community can explore even more fully how the knowledge gained in own-time learning reshapes our actions, attitudes and character in practice in less prescriptive ways; these can emerge from the group rather than being wholly predetermined by the trainer.

There’s a challenge for learners in this new approach. You might have noticed that up to now, we’ve been talking about ‘trainers’ in describing the old approach to learning. We’re not now using the language of training, trainers and students; we’re talking about learners (and, as you’ll see below, learning designers, learning facilitators and learning mentors). ‘Training’ places the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the trainer. With the move to blended learning, and the much greater emphasis on own-time learning, learners are much more responsible for their own learning. We think this is one of the greatest strengths of our new approach. Learning programmes related to forms of authorised, licensed or ordained ministry in the Church of England will inevitably have a greater degree of mandated learning outcomes. But for the learning experiences we offer that are more focused on growing faith, spirituality, discipleship and mission for church members, as well as those designed for people exploring faith, the learning is designed to be part of a learning journey that learners themselves create.

Our aspiration for Open Christian Learning is that anyone completing a learning experience will be ready to accompany another learner as they embark on the same journey; every learner becomes a mentor for someone in the next cohort. Learning mentors do not need to be expert in the subject. They just bring their experience of completing a course to offer to a learner going through it for the first time. In particular, they can be a first port of call when a learner is not quite understanding something, or needs some help navigating the learning resources. Learners can contact the learning facilitator directly, but learning mentors can also offer more general guidance to the learning facilitator on what is working well or not so well in the course materials for a group of learners.

Where learning mentors accompany individuals, learning facilitators ensure the learning experience runs well for groups of learners, guiding them through the steps, ensuring they are able to make progress, and reviewing and offering feedback on any assessment involved. Like learning mentors, learning facilitators do not necessarily need to be an expert or specialist in the subject being studied. Their particular skill is in supporting and enabling a learning community. They host and facilitate live sessions but also keep up with how learners are doing with the own-time learning. Learning facilitators keep in touch with the group of learning mentors accompanying learners through the course too.