Planning Guide Before you start designing your first online course:
• • • • •
Educate yourself by reading articles about web-based training, instructional design, technology education, and online learning. Links to resources in these areas can be found throughout this site. Locate and introduce yourself to the learning management system (LMS) Administrator. Ask the Administrator to create a user account, password, and blank course shell for you. Understand LMS hardware and software specifications. Make sure your computer is set up with the correct requirements. Again, refer to the Administrator if you need assistance. Practice using the learning management system. Take a workshop, arrange with the LMS Administrator for one-on-one training, or explore a peer's course.
Once you feel comfortable with the tools and clear idea of how you want to present your materials online, review the following course design guidelines. •
Prepare Your Materials
•
Outline the Course
•
Define the Syllabus
•
Select Material Delivery Methods
•
Build the Course Skeleton
•
Add Instructor Introduction
•
Populate the Course
•
Create Opportunities for Community Building
•
Create Announcements
•
Prepare for Delivery
Prepare Your Materials •
Identify measurable course learning objectives. Determine what core competencies and knowledge students will need to meet these objectives.
•
Gather your course materials and content into a central location. Include items such as: o handouts, o slide shows, o syllabus, o overheads, o lecture notes, o projects, o assessments, o audio and video files, o web resources, and
o discussion topics •
Determine what format your materials exist in. o Take note of items already in electronic format and move them into course folders on your computer. o Have hard copy documents scanned. o Have audio tapes and photos converted into digital files (the instructional designer can assist with this task) o Collect web links and descriptions into a central file o Where necessary acquire copyright permissions
•
Accommodate different types of learners. Make sure visual learners have graphics and text they can see to foster learning. Provide narration and text for visual learners. Apply creative combinations of teaching strategies, using methods like instructional units, case studies, simulations, and self-evaluations to encourage learners.
•
Utilize the action principle, emphasizing clearly and continually the connections between what is being learned and the real world in which it will be applied.
Outline the Course Make an outline that matches each course week or module with associated date, lecture materials, labs, assignments and corresponding items. This comprehensive outline can be very helpful when you go to build your course skeleton. Also detail which artifacts will be used for what module. Define the Syllabus Components Course Title Instructor's name Contact information for the Instructor - email address, phone number, office hours, and office location Select Material Delivery Methods Determine which materials should be delivered in the face-to-face component of your course (if your course has one) and which items can be delivered online. Avoid delivering materials that will distract the student from the course objective. Do not add irrelevant information to "fill-up" the course site. Prepare the materials for electronic delivery. This may include scanning graphics, creating files in a word processor, developing web pages, or creating slides in presentation software. If necessary, consult the Blackboard Administrator, or the Instructional Designer. You may find the following guidelines useful. •
In the place of a written lecture, several instructional articles that distill the major concepts addressed in the lecture could be utilized.
•
Instructional units should be short and concise documents conveying relevant, critical information to support concepts, procedures, and/or performance-based skills. The instructional unit should be written specifically to communicate the content-knowledge necessary for improved, more advanced performance.
o Ensure that each instructional article supports the learning objectives/goals of the course. o Get the learner's attention immediately by clearly making the topic relevant to something important within the learner's frame of reference (e.g. job, studies, professional development) o Integrate questions or other interactive activities -- such as exercises, problem-solving situations, and/or short simulations -- into the body of the module o Always limit the module to one or two main ideas or concepts o Use only the most important "need-to-know" supporting details o When possible, support the module content with audio and/or video clips containing relevant information, such as "how to" instructions or examples that further clarify key learning points. o A case study may be included within the body of the module, encouraging learners to notice connections between the module's text and the example as they learn a particular fact or concept. Alternatively, the course could be set up with a single case study that includes links to all the pertinent instructional units and student exercises. Learners would then use instructional units as needed to help develop solutions to the problems presented in the case study. o Simulations also may incorporate links to instructional units to be used as resources or prior research. o Self-evaluation typically tends to be quiz questions in multiple-choice or true/false format. You can increase motivation and learner interaction by using drag-and-drop design to match correct answers with their questions, or construct a game. In a crossword puzzle, for example, the critical cues for the Down and Across words could; be taken from the definitions of key terms within the course. External Tutorials and Samples Gagne and the Boys - This site is based on a WebQuest developed by Bernie Dodge. The product was created to assist students with the study of selected learning theories. Industry Portfolio Project - This assignment requires learners to gather and organize a comprehensive collection of materials/information relevant to a specific topical area. The final product consists of a web-ready electronic portfolio and a 2-4 page reflective statement. Taming the Mighty Migraine - This site provided an online problem analysis case for a graduate course in pharmaceutical marketing at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Build the Course Skeleton Create the organizational (or skeleton) structure of your course following the organization of your course management system. We suggest that a series of folders be created to house course materials: 1 main folder for the course with sub folders created for each week, discussion topics, and general course materials. For example: Sample Course Overview Course Materials Week 1: Introduction, from date - to date (folder) Week 2: Financial Decisions, from date - to date (folder) Week 3: Decision Making, from date - to date (folder)
Etc.... Populate the Course Create each course folder and add the content. •
Include a short description for each item.
•
Indicate what the item is and how it is relevant to the lesson. The description helps students understand how to associate (frame/attend to) this item in relation to the rest of the course materials.
Sample Week 3 - Weblogs in Education 1/30/06 - 2/5/06 Objectives •
Explore the opportunities for using Weblogs to provide multimedia education through research and practice
•
Discuss a variety of issues related to learner motivation and their impact on training design.
•
Create a personal weblog using the blogger software
•
Click on the title of this section for assignment instructions and guidelines.
Create Opportunities for Community Building For example, you might ask each student to write on to three paragraphs explaining who they are and why they took your course. Require students to read entries from other students. You might also encourage them to respond to each other. This is the first step in creating an "online community" for your course. •
When introducing a new thought/concept/introduction, be sure to: •
The subject line is important. When starting a new thread, make sure to create a subject line that both clues in the reader and catches the eye of the audience.
•
When replying to a posting, leave the "re:" position of the subject line, but feel free to edit the subject line to express how you are extending the conversation. This way everyone can get a quick glance at the direction of the conversation within a thread without actually opening each posting.
•
Provide an assessment rubric to the students that defines your expectations.
•
Plan on adding at least one new topic to the Discussion Board Forum each week. Make sure this topic requires students to formulate an answer and back it up with facts to demonstrate their understanding.
•
Monitor and respond to student threads and encourage student to do the same.
Create Announcements Post and introductory message in the announcements area. Welcome the students to your course, direct them to the Course Information area to obtain the syllabus, and indicate the location of the first class assignment or reading.
Prepare for Delivery Preview course materials by checking each link, proofreading descriptions, and view the course from the students' perspective. Then... •
Email an announcement of the first session to participants
•
Post an announcement welcoming the students, outlining course expectations and providing scaffolding for the first session Email students a course introduction and instructions on how to access the course materials.
•