Goal setting is valuable for all learners, but can be especially relevant when trying to tie work or professional development goals into an online course.
Examples
If you're dealing with mature, diverse learners you can get them to set their own goals and therefore think about their pathway.
Benefits
Including goal setting in your online course allows...
You to see what learners are hoping to achieve and align your content and support accordingly.
Stronger alignment between work, learning and professional development.
Learners to personalise their learning in some way. For instance, asking them to reflect on what parts of the course would help them reach their goals enables them to pick a learning journey that's just for them.
Learners to reattempt the task and update their goals if/when they change.
Variations
Create tasks that ask learners to reflect on which activities/strategies are working for them.
Help learners to write their own list of actions to prepare or work towards their goals.
Use an online course with goal setting and evidence gathering as part of performance review.