G UIDELINES FOR D ESIGNING O NLINE C OURSES Abigail S. Inapat Ariko

D ESIGNING O NLINE C OURSES “ Online course design is rooted in the same solid principles of face-to-face teaching, but requires additional considerations. ”Karin Kirk, Carlton College

T HE C OURSE O RIENTATION The course Instructor briefly introduces him/herself, the course and welcomes students. This is important because it helps the students get a sneak peak into the course and know their teacher upfront. All the Instructors teaching on the course should be listed here including their photographs and contact information. A brief biography about each Instructor helps. The break down of the course content can also be laid out here.

Remind the students of: the university policies regarding exams, cheating, plagiarism, etc. Include guidelines for the student on how to use the LMS system you are using. Include software requirements for accessing the course. This can include bandwidth, speed, workstation specifications etc. It should also have a course overview again briefly stating what the course is all about. A statement of the Grading and Instructor expectations (what the minimum grade is, what mark each assessment carries, the assignment deadlines and adherence to them and the teacher’s expectations.

Help Information for the student should be readily available. This includes the use of various tools within the course, using the discussion forums etc. This helps the student not to get lost in the course and should be considered an important part of their course orientation. The discussion forum provides the students with an opportunity to ask the teacher or the help desk any questions either regarding the course or the technology. Inform students of office hours, whether to use the LMS message utility or other etc. Other issues emerge as you design the course.

T HE C ORE C OURSE D ESIGN ( LAY OUT AND WAYS OF DELIVERING COURSE CONTENT ) Give course objectives upfront Structure subject in a simple, clear and consistent manner Use colors, fonts, alignments, presentation methods, terms, spelling and grammar consistently and effectively in each module of the course State instructions simply and make paragraphs brief

C ORE C OURSE D ESIGN ( CONT ’ D ) Use motivating strategies to introduce the learner to every module Effectively structure assessments to achieve course objectives and enforce understanding of subject matter (projects, seminars etc) Every module should have instructions for students Vary the manner of subject matter delivery e.g. PPS, PDFs, Word, Web etc

C ONTENT E NHANCEMENT ( ADDITION OF GRAPHICS AND OTHER COMPONENTS ) diagrams, tables, photographs, voice over text or photograph and other illustrations to clarify information presented interactive activities (created using flash or other software) Be considerate of the users’ ability to access enhancements without disruption either because of Internet speed or other impediment.

C OMMUNICATIONS opportunity for interaction among the learners or between them and their teacher , social media, skype, chat etc Teacher clarifies which one the students will use

F EEDBACK This enables the teacher to assess whether the course objectives were met and what the students liked or disliked about the content, structure, mode of delivery etc of the course. This should guide how the teacher packages the course for the next class.

Theme / CharacteristicOnlineTraditional collaboration Promoted by easy online interaction, teamwork and networking are valued Classroom is a self-contained unit, basis of individualism and competition. connectivity and unboundedness / expanded education access Fast and unobtrusive contact through and conferencing – interaction with peers and experts Not place and time dependent. Larger explicit and implicit barriers between peers and experts. Bounded geographically into “one size fits all” programme. student-centeredness Instructors define goals, then largely facilitate or manage. Students largely determine direction through participation. More structure provided by instructor, Less responsibility for learners. community Virtual communities possibleCommunity defined by physical location exploration Informal: games Formal: problem based learning Facilitated by access to resources and expertise Harder to facilitate in the closed environment shared knowledge Via the web – huge resourceVia books, journals – smaller resource: Limited by what is at hand locally. multi-sensory experience Interactive media-rich offeringsMore static media available authenticity Learning activities can be realisticAccusation of lack of realism