Designing Online Courses

I would like to write about a few aspects of designing Online Courses that I find to be important for the success of any individual in his/her final project design. These aspects I plan to write about are also important to us as designers and online facilitators.

I never thought developing content for online learning required so much effort and energy. As online students we think we do a lot but did we ever sit down and thought about the person responsible for designing the online course we are taking? I will honestly say that I never did--yes it briefly went through my mind but it never occurred to me that the designer would go through so much planning and work before the students log in for the first time.

The most shocking thing found was the fact that if a course falls above or below the level of the actual students taking the class it will be ineffective. By taking this class I have opened my eyes to the reality that while certain strategies work well in the traditional classroom they may not work well in the online environment. As online facilitators we need to adjust and adapt to using different strategies to make our online experience favorable.

It takes a lot of energy, time and commitment to implement a well-designed course. As a designer and developer we must consider a number of things. First we must think about the design process and start thinking about the environment in which the course will be taught in order to develop and deliver the most appropriate course possible. The design process is no easy matter it takes time to prepare and analyze the best course to take in making the most effective online course. The details at each stage towards the final project takes time and requires our undivided attention. Having a design team that can guide you and give you feedback about doing and not doing certain things is a great advantage.

As facilitators we need to realize that all courses begin with the student in mind the learner. The considerations and constraints that we must factor in the design are many but the most important are to recognize learner issues that we must factor into the design process in order to have an effective online course. We must also remember the importance of tailoring the learning experience to appeal to students from different learning styles in order to maximize their learning and their experience in the course. Bottom line is that when the learners leave your online course all objectives must have been met. Even though this sounds easy it is not, as a matter of fact dealing with so much can overwhelm any designer. Making mistakes during the design can make learning boring or too challenging making some students drop your course. With this in mind it's extremely important to have a design team that will help you achieve the best possible online course.

To have an effective online course assessment is needed. Assessment has to be an ongoing process that will help the online facilitator know how students are learning. Assessment is not all about grading but about the learning progress of the students. The most important part about assessment is about achieving all the learning objectives set in the beginning.
Assessment is an ongoing process in an effective online course. Consequently, it is important to consider how you will assess student learning (not just in terms of 'grading' but also in term of how both you and your students will get feedback on the progress toward the achievement of the stated learning outcomes.) before you actually begin the detail design of your learning units. Working from course goals/objectives you will need to determine what kinds of assessment will bets demonstrate that students are successfully meeting learning objectives. As an online facilitator we must find the best assessment strategies that will best fit with our course.

What must we start with? In the design we must first start with a clear set of learning objectives. We can do this by thinking of what we want our students to learn and go from there planning how they will achieve these. We must consider what technologies we will incorporate in our design, how will we present, and keep in mind all learning styles in order to have an effective outcome. We need to keep in mind considerations and present our content in a pedagogical manner.

What have I enjoyed about online courses? There are many reasons but the top reason is the interaction I never expected from an online course. Unlike the traditional classroom online courses demand more from us the students both in terms of interaction and discussion activities. In our unit it said, "Interaction is the heart of online learning." We were presented with the three types of interaction that can be designed into online courses. There is student-content, student-student, and student-instructor. These all help our students in the learning process and I can personally say that it has enhanced my learning tremendously. I did not learn as much in the traditional classroom because sitting there listening to a lecturer is alright but I learn by doing and interacting more. I get bored easily when someone just stands there and continues to speak and speak without involving his/her students.

At one point in time before I took online courses when I thought about online learning I thought ISOLATION. To my surprise through icebreakers and class albums and discussion forums there is a sense of community that provides us with so much more than expected. We can be social and academically support each other. We learn about team work by collaborating on projects and engaging in interesting discussions. There are many benefits to online learning like incorporating innovative and new ways to engage students to learn more than they ever imagined.

I will continue to write more about designing courses because I am a true advocate of online learning and now online teaching. This blog will serve others who have the wrong ideas about online learning.

Josie