Participants are expected to do the following:

1. Complete an initial survey about your background, organization and goals for taking the Learning Differences MOOC-Ed as part of the registration process.
2. Prior to the start of the MOOC-Ed, complete a Learner Sketch to begin reflecting on your own learning differences (optional, but highly recommended).
3. Review selected background materials (videos, webcasts, readings) for each unit. These will provide some common background, frameworks and language to inform the discussions, projects and peer feedback. There will be additional recommended resources and personalized pathways that participants can choose to pursue.
4. Complete the unit activities to enrich your learning and to apply the content into your own teaching practice.
5. Contribute to the Learning Differences MOOC-Ed by asking questions, responding to others’ questions and sharing ideas in the discussion forum; agreeing with or identifying comments as insightful; suggesting resources that will be useful to others; and sharing your expertise in other ways.
6. Complete a survey about the MOOC-Ed at the end of the MOOC-Ed and provide suggestions for improving it in the future.

Certificates of Completion for Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

A certificate of completion for 20 hours of professional development will be provided on request to participants who: (1) verify that they spent at least 20 hours participating in the course; (2) participated in the discussions and entered at least six postings; (3) submitted the final project; and (4) provided feedback to at least three others’ projects. You can submit the certificate to your local agency with a request for CEUs. Granting of CEUs will be subject to the policies and procedures of your state and local agency.

Those who participate in the coaching sections of Units 2, 4, and 6 will be eligible for a certificate of completion for 25 hours of professional development if they: (1) meet all of the requirements listed above; (2) complete the coaching action plan and post it to the forum; and (3) review three other participants’ action plans.

Major Goals for Participants

1. To leave participating educators with an understanding of what learning differences are and how they affect all students.
2. To foster a growth mindset or problem solving approach among educators as they work with students.
3. To provide educators with job-embedded strategies that will help them as they meet the diverse needs of all students.
4. To connect educators with other like-minded educators to support the expansion of their own personalized learning network.
5. To curate the rich, existing content and develop a Massive Online Open Course for Educators (MOOC-Ed) on Learning Differences to meet the needs of Oak Foundation partners, including Big Brother/Big Sister, the New Teacher Center, Teach for All, and Teach for America; provide access to the MOOC-Ed to teachers and those who coach and support teachers across the world; and to create models for blended learning opportunities with Oak Foundation partners in conjunction with the MOOC-Ed.