The Power of Personas in the Online Classroom

It is no surprise that television commercials target certain demographics. Home improvement stores feature rugged-looking spokespersons who are clearly excited about remodeling their kitchens, and the people in Medicare supplement commercials look, act, and mention concerns one would expect of someone who might purchase such a plan. Family dynamics are featured in other commercials, with attention paid to a variety of household combinations. Likewise, online course development may begin with developing "personas" to cultivate empathy in the development team and ultimately help students meet their educational and career goals. These may take into consideration race and ethnicity, age, gender identity, military affiliation, economic backgrounds, family situations, previous college experience, and other factors for the current student population expected to enroll in a course. Far too often, however, these profiles are left in the development process. Personas introduced into the classroom itself can help students concentrate, connect to the topics better, and become more involved in their learning. In this session, Q methodology, learner archetypes, delivery possibilities, and other concepts such as how AI generation might be used and where it should not will be explored to help bring a "human touch" to delivering course content through the use of personas.