39 Updating and maintaining the course

Learning analytics data may highlight steps or sections that need immediate attention to ensure an optimal learning experience. Your facilitators may also identify where improvements might be necessary to improve the learner experience. In addition, learners may identify and report course issues directly to the hosting platform provider.

In all cases, you should ensure that there is an ‘owner’ of the course – someone responsible for its management and maintenance. This is necessary to ensure that the course runs as intended.

The lead educator may be happy to act in this capacity and can work with the team that helped to create the course to make any updates and correct any inaccuracies that may have occurred inadvertently. Alternatively, you may choose to delegate this responsibility to another colleague.

Irrespective of which approach is chosen, if the course isn’t maintained, it may no longer continue to function correctly, or the content may become out-of-date and lose its validity to learners. Both factors compromise the learning experience and risk potential damage to your institution’s reputation.