Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal Volume 2 | Page 30

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2018, Vol. 2
critically evaluating the surfeit of information
can be difficult for those with time constraints or
a limited knowledge of what might be valuable.
Online distance learning with high quality control
mechanisms has the potential to act as a curating
function, in assembling appropriate evidence-based
material in an accessible manner, particularly if
reinforced by a range of learning activities with a
critical lens. For example, these comments address
this theme:
“I am a secondary school PE teacher and coach
some elite young athletes in my spare time. It
is great to find current and relevant research/
information.” (L8)
“A lot of the material was new to me and very
applicable to my coaching. The way that it is set up
means that you can dip into the sections that you
are most interested in even if you do not complete
the whole course.” (L9)
There is some evidence of modest impact on
practice through some of these participant
comments. To aide experimentation of some the
coaching ideas in practice and passing through
Stodter and Cushion’s (2016) ‘context filter’, it is
likely that this course would be most effectively
used in conjunction with other learning and, in
particular, mentoring relationships. In this way,
the strength of the course –its engagement and
stimulating of new ideas – could be discussed with
others, allowing deeper reflection as part of any
participant filtering process.
Conclusion
Insights from this analysis mainly relate to the
learning design, namely:
• A variety of tasks and the use of prompts,
guiding questions, and comments gives structure,
helps critical thinking and reinforces new
knowledge.
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• The short time duration (ie <2 hours) of peoples’
online learning episodes, suggests information
should be structured in short bite-sized chunks,
with consideration given to engaging headings
possibly framed as questions.