With in-person learning, breaks are necessary every hour or two. Learners have a chance to stretch, use the washroom, have a drink or snack and reset their brain for the next learning chunk. With self-paced online learning, learners can take breaks whenever they’d like, but it’s still a good practice for content creators of long courses to create opportunities for learners to take breaks.

If the course instructor is open to a direct approach, a suggestion to learners in the conclusion of a module is an option: “You’ve learned a lot in this module! Take some time to process what you’ve learned by stretching, taking a walk or having a snack. When you’re ready for more, come back and explore the next module.”

If your course is foundational in nature or involves teaching study skills, consider providing a link to an article about the benefits of breaks at work. OnlineSchools.org, The Wellbeing Thesis, the National Institutes of Health and the American Psychological Association all have articles on the values of pauses in our work day.

Another option is to provide your learners with a Brightspace self-assessment at key points in a course. You can ask your learners a question about their progress: “Take a moment to assess your progress in this course. A) I feel satisfied with my learning so far and am eager to get back to it! B) I understand most of it, but I already know I’ll need to review certain sections before the final assessment. C) There’s so much to learn! I’m worried I won’t be succeed.” Your feedback for B and C would then include information on the value of taking a break (and for C, you might choose to offer links to your organization’s help centres).

Finally, while my last suggestion isn’t directly related to breaks, it’s a great way to allow the brain to reflect on what was learned and prepare it for the next learning chunk. Brightspace has a user response field that can be saved and later downloaded by the learner, which we in D2L’s Learning and Creative Services department call the Socratic Tool. In a section called “Pause and Reflect” at the end of every module, I invite the learner to write down something they found particularly useful in the module they just completed. Learners then mentally sift through the content they learned, select the example they want to use for their answer and discuss it (and therefore help anchor it in their brain). Learners later have the opportunity to review their answers, like before a final assessment. Once learners have completed the “Pause and Reflect”, their brains are ready for a break or for new content, depending on how much they’ve already studied. For interested instructors, a Courseware Developer could install the Socratic Tool in your courses – speak to your Implementation Manager. For those looking for a lower-tech option, an ungraded quiz with a written response question would work well.

Providing opportunities to take breaks within an online learning environment is one way to mimic an in-person classroom. If you have learners who are more familiar with in-person delivery, inviting them to breaks during longer courses will help set them up for success.