Robertson College introduces complementary learning to meet the needs of learners in a post-pandemic world

Over the past two years, we have all been met with many challenges as we dealt with the impact of a pandemic. The education sector, including at the post-secondary level, was no exception. For Robertson College, the pandemic served as an impetus to review the college’s program offerings and delivery model so that it would continue to work for learners living in a post-pandemic world.

What resulted was the adoption of a whole new learning delivery model. Launched in the fall of 2021, the complementary learning model puts the needs of the modern learner at the forefront. It reimagines how students engage in their classes and with their instructors and peers.

“To complement means to bring together to make something complete. We recognized, now more than ever, there is a need to challenge the traditional models of the past and to make them work for today’s learners,” says Terena Caryk, vicepresident, product and operations at Robertson College. “By moving instruction to Brightspace, we allow our learners to learn in a way that complements the other responsibilities they may have in their life.”

Under complementary learning, programs are delivered in one of three ways – online instructor-guided, hybrid, or online selfguided. Instruction for online instructor-guided programs take place in Brightspace, Robertson’s own online learning platform, where learners have 24-7 access to their learning materials and e-books. Learners engage with the materials on their own time (asynchronously) with optional synchronous sessions each week with their peers or private office hours with their instructors. This provides learners with the freedom to set their own schedules while still providing the structure and support they need to proceed through their program.

“To complement means to bring together to make something complete. We recognized, now more than ever, there is a need to challenge the traditional models of the past and to make them work for today’s learners.”

Under the hybrid modality, the majority of instruction (both synchronous and asynchronous) takes place online in Brightspace with required hands-on training taking place on campus and in person. This modality allows learners to receive necessary hands-on instruction from their instructors at key points throughout their program and is mostly used for Robertson’s health-care programs like massage therapy or pharmacy assistant.

For learners who require the ultimate flexibility, the online self-guided modality allows students to engage with materials asynchronously from beginning to end with guidance and feedback from instructors when required.

“What we’ve been through the past two years have made the idea of remote learning less daunting and even more widely acceptable. However, we also know that after these prolonged periods of isolation, people crave interaction and the idea of community. These are all very relevant issues for today, so we’ve taken steps to meet these needs,” says Liz Choi, CEO of Robertson College. “Our programs have built in touch points throughout the program and learners are supported both from both an academic and non-academic standpoint by their learner experience guides. We also have a very active community on our Robertson app that lets our learners from across Canada connect in a meaningful way.”

The new complementary learning model is already celebrated by students across Canada. Learners who are balancing full-time or part-time work, families, or other commitments have found it convenient to not have to commute to campus every day. They have also found it valuable to be able to set their own study schedules with weekly synchronous sessions to keep them on track.

Students contemplating post-secondary education may find Robertson’s free college readiness micro-course useful. The content covered is general to post-secondary institutions and explores the importance of being ‘financially ready’ to attend college. This course is recommended to all incoming Robertson learners.

Sign up for the course here: robertsoncollege.com/programs/college-readiness. n

We help students find

meaningful work.

With experienced instructors, financial guidance, online study options, and lifelong career support, we make it easier to achieve the high-demand career of your choice.