Imagine Learning courses are based on current and confirmed research in learning—and online learning in particular. Courses feature systematic and explicit instruction, build deep content knowledge and metacognitive skills, and employ best practices to manage cognitive load and increase transfer. Imagine Learning also uses the framework of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to ensure curriculum is flexible enough to address learner variability. Developers focus on providing students with multiple means of content representation, multiple means of expressing learned content, and multiple means of engagement with content.
Self-paced instruction features highly qualified on-screen teachers who tailor their video-based lessons for the target grade. Online text-based content is considered through the lens of text complexity (quantitative, the qualitative, and reader/task). And tasks and assignments are rigorous and interactive, yielding a rich store of data about every student. Virtual teachers (distinct from the on-screen video teachers) are trained in strategies for analyzing this data, pinpointing student needs, and differentiating instruction.
Coursework includes a variety of learning activities:
- Warm-up activity
- Video-based direct instruction
- Lab activities and simulations
- Practice assignments
- Journals and short-response prompts
- Projects and performance tasks
- Asynchronous and synchronous discussion
As appropriate, Imagine Learning incorporates a variety of tools to enhance the curriculum. These tools include interactives and simulations, online calculators, and extension activities that are either self-developed or provided by Explore Learning and other industry leaders. Some courses are licensed from leading providers in that subject. These include world language content licensed from Middlebury Interactive, physical education content licensed from Carone Fitness, and a wide range of electives licensed from eDynamic Learning.
Curriculum Updates
Courses undergo an ongoing evaluation and update process with two major releases each year. New features and minor enhancements or updates occur monthly. Recent program enhancements include extended language translations for onscreen text to more than sixty languages to complement our robust selection of text and reading tools.