The Learning Café is a comprehensive student support service available to all Lethbridge College learners. Our service is free and can be accessed by learners without a referral. But what does relevant learning support look like for 21st-century post-secondary learners? Here are five meaningful ways the Learning Café offers support.

Students can complete grade 12 with decent grades but without having developed strong study skills. This year’s incoming post-secondary learners may find this even truer because online learning requires additional skills beyond those needed for successful learning in a face-to-face environment. The Learning Café can help learners build their online learning skills in addition to “traditional” skills such as notetaking, text reading, time management, test taking, and so on.

The disrupted school year may well affect new high school graduates’ preparedness for post-secondary programs. Mature or international learners who have either been away from school for a time or experienced different high school curriculums may also have some content gaps. The Learning Café can help learners refresh specific high school skills (like working with fractions, trigonometry, acid-base chemistry, or specific writing skills, for example). Our team of Academic Strategists helps learners advance their skills in high school writing/English, math, chemistry, physics and biology.

Your learners may need to acquire a particular skill or skill set and the Learning Café can help. We can present a variety of workshops in your class, on your timeline, to enhance your learners’ success. Some instructors invite us for a single presentation. Other instructors and some programs invite us to deliver a series of presentations based on skills their learners need; everything from multiple choice test-taking skills to group work to customized presentations designed to meet learners’ needs. Have a look at the Learning Café menu “Workshop Topics” and “A La Carte” for ideas.

The Learning Café team can support learners via telephone or video chat while we’re away from campus, and in the Learning Café space in the back of the Niitsitapi’Ksimpstaan Learning Commons when we are back on campus. We also offer the Writing Dropbox, an online tool that allows learners to submit their written assignment for feedback (not proofreading or editing!). Our goal is to provide written suggestions for improvement within three business days. The eLearning Café is a curated website offering a variety of resources to help learners with everything including Lethbridge College technology supports, writing skills, and so much more. This combination of online supports provides learners with effective online assistance, 24/7/365.

The Learning Café recruits Peer Tutors to assist learners struggling with course content. Peer Tutors help learners improve their understanding of material presented in lectures and labs. Peer Tutors do not help with graded assignments, and learners are expected to prepare for meetings with their tutor by determining specific questions and areas in which they need clarification. Peer Tutors do not re-teach class material, and if learners have been skipping classes they may lose access to Peer Tutoring.

Compare this list of Lethbridge College services to those offered at your institution. Are many of the services similar? Are there gaps to fill in? Or, do you have suggestions for other ways we might best serve learners? Please email learningcafe@lethbridgecollege.ca with questions, suggestions, or to find out more about how the Learning Café can assist your learners.