Scaffolding online learning

In the absence of real-time support from a tutor, many of the explanatory and supporting elements need to be written into the online content that learners engage with. Broadly, this scaffolding can take four forms:

• Procedural scaffolding, which helps students use the available tools
• Conceptual scaffolding, which helps students prioritise key concepts
• Strategic scaffolding, which helps students consider multiple strategies when solving problems
• Metacognitive scaffolding, which helps students think about their own learning, and self-assess

In each case, considering learners’ current level of comfort or proficiency can help to determine the type and amount of instruction that is needed. As this may vary within a cohort, some differentiation may be required. Ideally, all scaffolding should take place in the learner's zone of proximal development.

The following is a set of recommendations for scaffolding your students’ learning experience, based on the NTU online learning ecosystem, and using NOW as a portal to all content and activities.

This should not be seen as a minimum standard, rather as a starting point for considering the most appropriate scaffolding techniques for your own module. All guidance is aligned to NTU’s Learning and Teaching Planning Framework and the Quality Matters Higher Education Standard.

Navigational/procedural scaffolding

Procedural scaffolding can help ensure that students are confident using the tools in our online learning ecosystem (NOW, Panopto, PebblePad).

You might, for example:

• Publish a schedule of teaching activities with delivery modes clearly indicated (online asynchronous, online synchronous, face-to-face on-campus, simultaneous face-to-face and live-stream, face-to-face off-campus)
• Present critical information from the module handbook in chunks using the templates and guidance provided
• Provide explicit instructions when introducing new tools, techniques or workflows. Signpost additional support resources where possible

Conceptual scaffolding

Conceptual scaffolding can help students get to grips with more complex materials.

This will help students decide what to concentrate on when engaging with content, and to make connections with prior and future learning. Your module’s NOW Learning Room contains templated pages with placeholders for conceptual scaffolding.

You might, for example:

• Chunk learning content into discrete sections that each explore a single theme or concept
• Introduce and contextualise each section. Where possible, make explicit links to module learning outcomes and assessment tasks, and to learners’ prior learning or experience.
• Explain how students should engage with content if needed. When presenting a video, for example, consider whether the student should concentrate on particular sections, or use the content to answer or generate questions. If so, include suitable prompts at the outset.

Strategic Scaffolding

Students can struggle with threshold or core concepts, especially at Level 4. Experience might lead you to anticipate when this will happen and what the common errors or misconceptions are likely to be. Strategic scaffolding can help your students avoid pitfalls and find ways to navigate this difficult material.

You might, for example:

• Provide contextual exemplars (e.g. research journal articles) that demonstrate concepts in practice
• Provide examples of alternative approaches associated with the concept (e.g. use of a pen tool instead of a mouse for certain design tasks)

Metacognitive Scaffolding

Reflection is a critical aspect of deep learning. To help your students develop their reflective capabilities, you should incorporate appropriate cues for self-assessment in your teaching.

You might, for example:

• Build in prompts to help students identify opportunities for reflection, focus on their learning processes and select strategies for improvement
• Consider using templates to support structured reflection; aim to build in more explicit guidance in the early stages