What do you mean by a "Beta" course?

Our Beta Learn It! is a roll-out of the course specifically to test it and hear back from our users with feedback. As part of the design thinking process that we use ourselves, we need to hear from you!  Please take the short survey at the end of Learn It! so we can keep improving this course!


What courses do you offer now? 

Learn It! of our Learn It! Try It! Apply It! series is now live and available to you in its Beta stage.

Learn It! focuses on the fundamentals of our human-centered design and design thinking approach and how we go about connecting these concepts to project-based learning.  

Our second course, Try It!, presents you and your peers with a design challenge, allowing you to try out the previously learned design-thinking principles through collaboration and guidance.  

Finally, Apply It!, through shared live sessions, our instructors and your peers will provide you with input on how to adapt human-centered design and design thinking to a lesson plan or project of your own choosing. 


How much does this series cost? 

All of our courses are entirely free for everyone!  


Who will get the most benefit from this series? 

Although these courses are marketed and designed for K-12 educators, anyone interested in learning more about human-centered design is encouraged to take the course with no obligation! 


How is the course series delivered? 

For this series, we scaffolded three synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences. The first course, Learn It!, is entirely asynchronous. We know that your time is limited and that self-paced learning can fit into your schedule the way you need it to. 

When you successfully complete Learn It!, you can move to Try It! and then, Apply It! in scaffolded order when they are available. 


Is there homework or a test as part of the courses?

Throughout the courses, we prompt discussion encouraging you to “make the connection”. through reflection questions. You are also encouraged to use these discussions to engage with your classmates by replying to their discussion posts or by posting in the SCD Community. Outside of the course time, there are no other obligations or “homework” to complete. 

At the end of Learn It! there is a required assignment to upload which officially completes the course and provides you with a certificate as well as a link to receive your Illinois PDH credit. 


Are the courses geared toward certain K-12 strands, content, or disciplines? 

As a useful introductory series for all K-12 educators, we keep the content very general. In Apply It!, participants will be asked to share a current lesson plan from their classrooms to consider how to embed human-centered learning into their own content with group and instructor feedback.

 

What is the SCD Community space and how does it work?  

Our SCD Community space is a 24/7 source for you to connect with other educators who have taken any of our courses. This space is available for resource sharing, discussion, and networking with those interested in human-centered design. For more information, feel free to read our informational posts located within the SCD community space.


How long will these courses take me to complete and do I qualify for PDH credit?

Learn It! can be completed in approximately 1-hour and earns 1 CPDU; Try It! in 2-hours and earns 2 CPDUs; Apply It! in 3-hours with 3 CPDUs.  A link to the ISBE site for filing for credit will be provided at the end of each successfully completed course.


What kind of quality do the courses provide?  

Before launching this course to the public, we ran this series through several early Beta tests for user feedback. Within this research, we utilized feedback from many K-12 educators to ensure we are meeting educators' needs. The course content provided is evidence-based and relies on current research on adult learning as well as human-centered design and design thinking,  If you have any questions or additional feedback about our course, feel free to contact us at [email protected]


Are you using my work and ideas for research?

No. Your experience is yours alone. If we were interested in using these courses as research, we would be required to have written consent from you. However, if you are interested in participating in a research study to help us improve our courses, let us know!


Technical FAQ


How do I get started?  

  • To get started, make sure you have generated an account and are signed in. 
  • We recommend that you go to the Learn It! Try It! Apply It! Overview page before you start the Learn It! course. You can find this on the Home page.
  • The Beta Learn It! course link is also on the Home page.  
  • From the Learn It! page, select “Enroll for free” at the top.
  • After clicking “Enroll for free”, you will be taken to the“My courses” page and you can begin the first course of our series!  
  • If you don't have an account yet when you click the course, you'll be led to set one up first.


How do I customize my notification settings?  

  • Log into your account 
  • After logging in, click on your name in the upper right-hand corner. 
  • You will see a drop-down menu under your name. In this menu, click “My Account”. This will take you to your account settings. 
  • Within your settings, click on the “Notifications” option on the left side of your profile.  
  • Within the “Notifications” portal, you can choose which notifications you want to receive by checking and unchecking the setting preferences. 
  • After selecting your preferred notification settings, click the “Save Changes”. 


How do I reset my password? 

  • If you have forgotten your password, you can change it by clicking the “Forgot Password?” link on the login page. 
  • From there, you will receive an email with steps to complete the reset process. 


How are cookies used by this website? 

  • If you choose to select “remember me” on the sign-in page, cookies are used to remember sign-in information.
  • Cookies are also used to save your progress within our courses. 


What kind of technology and materials do I need? 

  • For our fully asynchronous course, Learn It!, you only need an account through our website: scd.thinkific.com.  
  • For our synchronous portions of Try It! and Apply It!, we’ll host pre-scheduled sessions via Zoom. For these two sessions, we recommend downloading Zoom and joining sessions on a device that can engage in both audio and video calls. If this proves a hardship for you, let us know and we can work together to find a solution.