ONLINE COURSE CONTENT AND STRUCTURE ONLINE TASK TYPES AND OTHER RELATED AREAS

ONLINE COURSE CONTENT AND STRUCTUREONLINE TASK TYPES AND OTHER RELATED AREAS

The following points will be covered in this presentation:

Know and State your Objectives Value Pedagogy over TechnologyPlanCreate a communityOrganise. AssessGet the Right BalanceEvaluate and Adapt

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1. Know and state your objectives

Make sure that you know what your objectives are when you design activities.

Also make sure that these objectives are clear to your students from the beginning, as are the course syllabus and course requirements.

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2. Value Pedagogy over Technology

Good eLearning is about design, not software. Be aware of the differences between face-to-face and online learning environments, but at the same time dont simply incorporate online activities for the sake of them.

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Make sure you set your students online tasks that make them think and enhance the way they learn.

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3. Plan

An online course involves careful planning, but no two groups are the same. Thus, as in a face-to-face course, it may need to be adapted as you go along. Create a variety of activities that cater for different needs and learning styles and also keep students interested.

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You can provide access to a lot more materials, which sometimes makes planning easier because you merely have to point students in the right direction. However, beware of providing too many materials.

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4. Create a Community

Devise activities that create a sense of community so that students dont feel isolated during the course. Ensure that early on you have activities that encourage students to interact and get to know one another.

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Also, remember your own important role in the community and make yourself available. Keep scheduled virtual office hours so that students can communicate with you via telephone, online chat or virtual meeting rooms.

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And provide students with response times for e-mails, feedback and grades in order to manage their expectations and your schedule.

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5. Organise.

Make sure that the course is well-designed, organised, accessible, consistent and simple to use.

Remember that learning is not simply the result of instruction. To learn, students have to do things, experience things and talk things over and sometimes make mistakes

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Ask yourself, What is it you want people to do when theyre back on the job? Then ask, What does successful performance look like? and How will you measure that? Work out your goals from those answers first.

Then design the course itself, with instructions that lead to the goals.

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Be concise as you design it dont clutter it with unnecessary content, avoid verbiage in the language you use and dont include technological gimmickry that might confuse or distract students.

6. Assess

Make sure assessment is properly aligned with the courses objectives and content.

Remember too that assessment provides feedback to you and your students as to whether the instructional strategies are working or not.

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Assess your students progress at regular intervals, helping them build gradually on their prior knowledge. Bear in mind the value of self and peer-assessment and provide opportunities for students to do this.

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Implement a consistent pattern of instruction, activities and assessment throughout the modules so that online students can manage their schedules to fit with and meet the demands of the course.

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7. Get the right balance

Ensure theres a balance between key ingredients such as interaction, organisation, communication and consistency.Also ensure theres a balance of hardware, software and liveware.

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8. Evaluate and adapt

As you teach your course from term to term, make notes of the questions that students ask and the problems that they encounter. From these, make the necessary updates to the course before you run it again.

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