So, you are building a course for the online environment. What an exciting adventure! When building an online course, you may use a similar method to what you used when developing a course previously, or you may use an entirely new technique. Either option is a good option. But, you may have a few questions when you first begin such as: How do I organize my materials? How do I display my materials? How do I make sure my students work together?
There are a few considerations in course design that make the online classroom a space for students to learn and explore. Lister (2014), as cited in Steele et al. (2017), suggests four themes be considered in the online space:
- Course Structure
- Content Presentation
- Collaboration and Interaction
- Timely Feedback
Some of the recommendations below should not be surprising; they are what students would like when encountering new materials, regardless of their environment. Let’s look at what these themes mean for the online classroom.
Course Structure - Try to keep the class consistent. Whether you're working by yourself or with an instructional designer, start by creating a template you can use for each module or week of the course. Keep the order of materials consistent so students know what to expect when. And, consider using a format for the pages that is consistent from page to page-internal consistency.
Content Presentation - Help students engage with the materials. This might mean recording videos, posting additional readings or materials that add to content and show students how information applies outside the classroom. You may want to think about what interests you and present the materials in a similar fashion.
Collaboration and Interaction - Give students opportunities to interact with each other. A discussion board is one option for interaction but make sure to give students more means to collaborate and interact. Give students the opportunity to form groups, schedule meetings, and work together. Also, give students instructions about when they can reach you and how they should do this. (For example: if you hold live office hours every Wednesday from 7pm-9pm CST, then provide the link to that live session. Although students might not show up the first time, they know you are there if they need you!)
Timely Feedback - Students want to know what they are doing well and what they can improve on. Give them feedback that they can use. And, show them how to look at their own work critically. Teach them the skills of feedback and self-evaluation.Building an online class is exciting. It gives us the opportunity to make education a choice and fit it into our lives in a meaningful way!
References
Steele, J., Nordin, E. J., Larson, E., & McIntosh, D. (2017). Multiple access points within the online classroom: Where students look for information. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 18(1), 182–195.