1. Designing Effective Online Courses Lawrence C. Ragan, Director Instructional Design and Development Penn State’s World Campus

2. Goals To explain/highlight the instructional design & development process for an effective on-line course Provide a framework for the ID&D process Q&A

3. Before You Start Goals, Guidelines, and a Few Principles

4. Goal of the Online Course Enables the students to reach the learning objectives of the course Supports the teaching process and... is cost efficient and learning effective Enables success for both teacher and student

5. Design Guidelines Consider the needs of your learner Use EACH technology appropriately to support the instructional system Consider new pedagogy (new relationships) Stay flexible Have fun!

6. ID&D Guiding Principles be efficient in the presentation of content, activate appropriate levels of interaction, and... be effective (and creative) in the use of measurement and evaluation techniques.

7. Pieces and Parts How do I get started?

8. Can you get there from here? Classroom Model Online Model Step 1

9. Where are you now? What materials do you already have developed? What pedagogy works for you in the classroom? What would you like to do differently online?

10. Content Learner Support Interactions Assessment Evaluation Pieces and Parts of T&L Online Content Presentation Instruction Interactions/dialog Student activities/assignments Assessment and Evaluation

11. Content Presentation Options Text materials (books, journals, study guides, reading packets) Audio/video (standard or streamed) Web-based communications systems

12. Interactions Options Asynchronous Email Threaded discussion board Synchronous Chat Video/audio conferencing

13. Student Activity/Assignments Low Tech –Standard course activities –Paper-based projects Hi-tech –Web-based projects –CBI/CBT

14. Evaluation/Assessment Options Creative alternatives (projects, reports, research projects) Low-stake on-line methods Non-proctored online exams Proctored online exams Proctored exams

15. ID&D Process How do I get started?

16. Define the ID Model Map out the sequence of instructional events including: – How will lesson content and instruction be delivered? –Where/when will interactions occur? –What will be the student activities? – What evaluation strategies will be used (freq/type)

17. Examples AEE 413 GIS 5121

18. Content Generate or locate content resources (no small task) Be creative (grad students, external sites-publishers, colleagues) Identify additional materials necessary Establish review process (if possible)

19. Interactions Who needs to be communicating with whom? How frequently? What’s optional, what’s required? What’s the outcome of that interaction? What’s the duration of that activity?

20. Assignments/Projects What’s the frequency/duration? How complex are assignments? Is there a mix of individual and group?

21. Evaluation/Assessment How will you know when the students have successfully completed work? What’s the mix of low and high-stake testing? Where and how will exams be administered? What’s the grade weight?

22. What’s Effective & What’s Not? Dos and Don’ts

23. What Works for Adult Learners? Application of theory (how can I use this in my work?) Immediate engagement Technical support Timely, personalized, meaningful feedback and interaction (more)

24. What Works? (continued) Flexible of content media Interaction w/peers and faculty Appropriate mix of individual and group assignments Clear and concise instructions Flexibility of assignments

25. What Doesn’t? Mismatch between audience technology access/ability & technology requirements Mismatch of faculty teaching style and technology selected for course Doing things because “it can be done” rather than what’s instructionally sound (more)

26. What Doesn’t Work? (continued) Infrequent checking of e-mail Falling behind on responding to assignments Too much too fast-- assignments and or content material Inflexible pacing in cohort model

27. Online Courses: What’s Different? “Classroom” not a place but a state of mind Resource-based rather than event-based Dynamics of the learning environment Role of instructor Diverse global audience Technology requirements and multiple media considerations

28. Challenges and Rewards Why go through the hassle?

29. Challenges of On-line Learning Learner expectations & barriers Getting started Bridging the distance (“the loneliness of the long-distance learner”) Self-motivation and stamina Time commitment for student and faculty

30. Rewards of On-line Learning Extending University’s expertise to under-served audiences Invigorating T&L experience Flexible study schedule Personal one-on-one relationships Access to previously unavailable programs and a “second chance” at academic success Global perspectives and dialogues

31. Rewards of On-line Learning Global perspectives and dialogues #1 Reward: “I can advance my career without disengaging from life!”

32. Program Sampler Noise Control Engineering Reliability Engineering Geographic Information Sciences/Systems Turf Grass Management Chemical Dependency Counseling Educational Technology

33.  Content Delivery: Textbooks and CD-ROM delivered HTML  Interactions: Discussion - FirstClass,audio conferencing Projects - FirstClass, MatLab  Evaluation/Assessment: Non-proctored exams, projects Noise Control Engineering

39. www.worldcampus.psu.edu