100472 - Design Review & Design Principles for Affordable Housing

Overview

VCHR’s online educational offerings, including the summer VCHR Housing Camp, are grounded in adaptive lifelong learning. One of the key insights in the development of our curriculum is that students rarely acquire knowledge or skills in credit hour units. Traditionally, a single credit hour would require one credit hour would require 750 minutes of in-class time and about 30 hours of out-of-class work. We believe learning should be more granular and more flexible. Our courses break down the traditional credit hour. Each course is about 250 minutes of in-class time and 10 hours of out-of-class time.

The courses are mostly asynchronous, meaning that you can learn at your own pace. But we also recognize the importance of collaboration and building your network. Therefore, each course will have at least 50 minutes of real-time interaction (synchronous online or face-to-face). Most also include learning tasks that involve working with one or more other learners. Each course costs just $500.

What is Housing Camp?

• A menu of 250-minute courses focused on the housing industry
• Self-paced and real-time instruction by faculty with industry experience
• Offerings in diverse topic areas: construction, design, policy, law, finance, & data analysis
• Courses run from mid-July through August 14th, and can include a mix of video lectures, narrated slideshows, case studies, and projects. Registrants will experience a real-time component near the end of their course(s), such as a Zoom panel and  discussion, remote guided project, or virtual site tour.
• Earn competency-based credentials through badges backed by Virginia Tech and VCHR
• Build an online portfolio of skill and knowledge evidence linked directly to your badges
• Retain access to courses as a course evolves, your learning can grow with it

Click here to see a graphic using an example course on Low Income Housing Tax Credits. The course has been designed so that the successful participant earns both the LIHTC Course Badge and four unique Module Badges, and these contribute to a variety of Pathway Badges.