At hiitide, we transform books into digital-first, real-time curricula that helps our users – aka Heroes – make lasting, meaningful change in their lives. But how does that happen? What’s the process that takes a book from words on a page to a set of actionable, engaging, hiitide lessons?
Our Curriculum Designers have a 10 step process that allows us to craft life changing MicroCourses in a matter of months. Today, we’re excited to distill them into three and share some of the secrets of that process with you! Come behind the scenes of a hiitide MicroCourse and learn how hiitide is turning the world’s library into a digitally accessible experience:
"The amount of self-growth, support, and tools offered through this program far exceeded my expectations. Six weeks may not even be long enough to process everything you actually receive during this course. The lessons taught are absolutely invaluable." - hiitide hero
The Deep Dive
The first thing we at hiitide do when we start developing a MicroCourse based on a new book takes a long, deep, comprehensive look at the book itself. Our expert Curriculum Designers work on only one book at a time, giving them the space to distill hundreds of hours of knowledge into the most effective 14-minute activities, which can include action prompts, journaling exercises, and group discussions.
We read the book cover to cover, taking notes and highlighting insights along the way. As part of our internal process, we identify the book’s key themes and objectives, then use creative narrative exercises to understand the book’s audience and the people it’s best positioned to serve.
But that’s only the beginning! Reading in a digital age means we aren’t limited to the book itself. hiitide works with authors who are brimming with knowledge and expertise, which often finds its way onto Twitter, Instagram, podcasts, TEDTalks, and other platforms. We visit the author’s website, listen to their interviews, watch their videos, and engage with the rest of their body of work to get a holistic and intensive understanding of their ideas.
Finally, we meet with the authors themselves! Live conversations are the best way to bring a book to life, which is why we also include Q&A opportunities in many of our MicroCourses. When a Curriculum Designer meets with an author, they’re able to ask direct questions and receive intensive feedback straight from the source. All of our curricula are endorsed and influenced by our authors and their unique perspectives.
Put together, this “deep dive” process lets us become subject matter experts on the topics of our MicroCourses before we even start developing them. This ensures that our Heroes will also get a deep, comprehensive understanding of any book in the hiitide catalog.
“A life-changing experience in a community of like-minded people. This book club has been more than just discussing what we’ve read. It’s been a catalyst for change. With exercises every day focused to mind, body & soul, I have been able to focus and work on my goals one day at a time. Highly recommend!” - hiitide hero
Elevate, Don’t Duplicate
As we set about building a Virtual Book Club or MicroCourse curriculum, our goal is to expand and elevate the book’s content – never to duplicate it.
We know that our Heroes live busy lives, and that it’s not always possible to keep up with weekly or daily reading assignments. To make sure we serve this audience, every individual lesson is designed to be complete and understandable even for someone who hasn’t yet read the book section on which it is based. Our Curriculum Designers provide enough context, quotations, and examples that all you really need to complete and learn from a MicroCourse is the willingness to spend 14 minutes a day on the hiitide platform.
However, we also know that many of our Heroes do read the book, either by following along with the daily assignments or by finishing the book early in the month-long course. With these readers in mind, every individual lesson is designed to elevate and expand on the book’s content, ensuring that a Hero is guaranteed to get something new from our curriculum even if they know the book backwards and forwards.
By incorporating hiitide-exclusive media, original examples, and exercises not found in the book, we make sure that each hiitide MicroCourse provides a unique experience that deepens and builds on the book’s content.
Embodied Wisdom
According to a proverb of the Papua New Guinea people, “Knowledge is only a rumor until it lives in the body.”
At hiitide, we live by this saying. Every bit of spiritual wisdom or self-development advice is just a rumor as long as it remains cerebral, trapped within our minds as information we don’t know how to act on. We can read thousands of books crammed with knowledge, but our lives won’t change until that knowledge finds a way into our bodies, our muscles and bones, our daily routines.
That’s why, at hiitide, we make sure that every bit of wisdom we share is accompanied by actionable prompts and exercises designed to help Heroes integrate it into their everyday lives. Using evidence-based pedagogical methods, we start with reflective journaling, encouraging Heroes to meditate on their current habits and past influences. This self-awareness work, and the mental shifts that it inspires, are the first steps toward embodied knowledge.
Then, we shift to creative applications. Each MicroCourse includes clear, guided steps anyone can follow to start really living out the knowledge contained in our books. From healthy morning routines to vision boards to roleplaying activities, we provide opportunities to practice new ways of living. We help Heroes live out the truth of their inner wisdom with simple but influential actions, giving them the tools they need to make real, lasting change.
The Science Behind Our Method
People learn best when given an opportunity to engage critically with whatever we’re doing, whether that’s a new yoga technique or a model of the physical universe. That’s why we use question-based teaching strategies at hiitide, combining ancient methods for sharing wisdom with cutting-edge research into educational best practices.
Teaching by asking questions that invite learners to engage critically is an ancient technique, named after the philosopher Socrates. Modern-day research supports the strength of this practice, indicating that a “question-exploration” method leads to higher performance in students than a “lecture” approach (Source). At hiitide, we don’t talk at you, but work with you to enhance your understanding and convey wisdom on a deeper level.
Not all questions help people learn – there’s an art, and science, to what we do at hiitide. Using an internally developed scaffolding method based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, we craft four types of questions within our curricula. As a Hero works their way through a hiitide curriculum, they’ll be led through a process of understanding, applying, analyzing, and creating, ultimately building a strong foundation of knowledge that can fuel lasting, positive change.
Start Your “1% Better” Journey With hiitide
All of our MicroCourses are designed to help people leverage their strengths, address areas of growth with flexibility and grace, and take the first step toward happier, healthier habits. But we can’t do it alone – without our Heroes, who work through our MicroCourses with commitment and positivity, the world won’t see any changes.
Are you ready to start embodying the wisdom of bestselling experts and spiritual gurus in your everyday life? Sign up for one of our MicroCourses and become a hiitide Hero today!
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