The Future Learner’s Experience: Flexible Schedules and Timetables

Posted on Thursday, February 6th, 2020

Leaner Driven Plan

What is the future of personalized learning at Algonquin College? Meet Santiago, an Algonquin College student in 2030. Read his story below – an excerpt from the College’s Learner-driven Strategy Implementation. This excerpt is an example of a future learner’s experience with flexible schedules and timetables.

You can also download the full plan here to learn how the College plans to implement its strategy to become a leader in personalized learning.

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The future learner’s experience of Flexible Schedules and Timetables

It’s mid-winter, 2030. Santiago is driving home to Carleton Place from Algonquin College’s Perth Campus, where he recently started re-training for a career change. The last 18 months have been a blur. So much has changed, and so quickly.

He lost his partner suddenly and unexpectedly — a shock to his whole family. He knew right away he couldn’t support the kids as a single parent doing only freelance and contract work. While his relatives are emotionally “there” for him, they all live out of town. He thought of moving closer to them but didn’t want to put the kids through another upheaval. He knew he needed to go back to school.

His first thoughts lead him to think of Algonquin College: it was where he earned his first diploma. But he was hesitant. When he attended Algonquin 20 years ago, the schedule was so rigid. He couldn’t just adapt to whatever calendar might be handed to him each semester, and he’d never taken well to online learning (though maybe it would be different now after all his years of freelancing from home). He also knew being with people, having a supportive sense of community, would probably be better for his mental health.

He decided to find out how or if Algonquin might be able to help him on his road to lifelong success.

One night, he got a babysitter for the kids and drove to Algonquin College’s Ottawa campus. Even though he could connect with an advisor via live chat or web call, he preferred to go in person — to the campus he was most familiar with. He hardly recognized the place. It was after 6 pm but the College was a hive of activity. The employees in Student Central could not have been more welcoming or knowledgeable. Santiago was overjoyed he wouldn’t have to go from department to department trying to get things sorted out. Things certainly were different.

The best surprises were still to come. His visit had been in late September, and he expected to have to wait for the winter term to get started. But he found out he could begin in October — or November or December or whenever worked best for him. There were abundant opportunities for online learning and hybrid learning that included streaming classes and access lectures on-demand from home.

Santiago learned he could complete his own course registration and create and change his timetable at the push of a button. He had the option to attend classes in either Ottawa or Perth because his program was offered at both campuses. And he’d get credit for two courses by demonstrating his prior learning and life experience — reducing his courseload and allowing him to complete the program more quickly.

Most unexpectedly, he discovered he could take elective courses on coping with grief and children’s literature to help him in his personal life. These were about as far away from his new career as you could get, but so valuable.

And so tonight, driving home after class and a virtual learning coaching session, Santiago is grateful for the flexibility Algonquin College has been able to provide him. Not even six months since his first visit to the Ottawa campus, he’s already into the second set of courses for his program — getting ahead without making sacrifices at home. He finds himself looking forward to the online nutrition course set to start next week.

This time around, the learning experience is so much better: not because he’s 20 years older but because he gets to drive the pace and schedule of his learning, something he could not do the last time he studied at Algonquin.


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