Please note: Summer@Brown Online courses do not offer housing. All online courses are taught with the University’s Learning Management System called Canvas. For that reason, every online course includes a required orientation that familiarizes you with Canvas and the course’s expectations. The orientation will be available to registered students one week prior to the course starting and will take approximately three hours to complete. You are expected to complete the orientation by the end of the day on the Friday prior to the start of your course.

Why

• Join a virtual community of young scholars all engaged in the serious fun of learning.
• Learn how to navigate online courses in ways that mirror how many Universities offer online study.
• Explore the breadth and depth of Brown’s undergraduate curriculum and emphasis on student-centered learning.
• Experience the satisfying challenges of college-level academics. 
• Immerse yourself in subjects you choose. 
• Engage in courses that allow you to do independent research.
• Concentrate on learning without the pressure of formal grades.
• All students who successfully complete their online course will receive a Certificate of Completion. Students who complete a 3-week or longer online course will receive a Course Performance Report.

When you take a Summer@Brown Online course, you have the freedom to decide when and where you learn. With time to reflect, read, write, experiment and build you enhance important critical thinking skills. Summer@Brown Online provides the opportunity to strengthen your capacity for self-discipline and personal responsibility, skills necessary to excel in all learning environments. By taking an online class you also become more comfortable with online learning – a format that is becoming increasingly important both in and out of school. Summer@Brown Online provides the opportunity for you to choose the type of online learning experience that is best for you. 

All online courses will include virtual office hours with your instructor and daily asynchronous engagement. Students learn in one of three formats as outlined below: 

• Asynchronous: The course will be offered entirely asynchronously; giving you the opportunity to set your own schedule each day, and allowing for the most flexibility and self-directed learning.
• Mostly asynchronous: The course will include a majority of asynchronous content and optional opportunities for live sessions with your instructor and classmates to supplement course material. 
• Blended: The course will include asynchronous content and 1 to 3 prescheduled, required live sessions each week. These required live sessions are integral to the course experience. The times for these synchronous sessions will be listed in the course meeting time no later than April 30, 2024.

Each online course section indicates which format instructors will use in that particular offering. Please reach out to a Program Advisor if you need assistance with choosing the right online learning experience for you.

All online courses are designed for active learning. Plan to spend a couple of hours each day (about 15 hours per week) engaging in a variety of coursework. One day you might watch videos recorded by your instructor and participate in written discussions or peer review sessions with classmates. Another day might involve independent reading, work on a project or experiment, attending a scheduled session with the entire class or attending virtual office hours with your instructor, listening to a guest lecturer, viewing a video demonstration or meeting in small groups. Online courses provide many opportunities to interact synchronously and asynchronously, depending on the course you select, with your instructor and fellow students.

Outside of your course, you have the opportunity to meet students taking other online and in-person courses through various programs that help you grow as a person. See Your Virtual Community for more information.