In my opinion, I disagree if the traditional courses are harder to develop than the online courses. I can agree, at the same time, if it's vice versa.
There are many new programs out there that can help with this. Have you heard of xtranormal.com...check it out if not!
I believe an online course requires more time invested due to the anticipation of the student quality. Online courses do not have the luxury of face to face encounters. One cannot "see"the reaction of students and the instructor would most likely want to cover all bases for the problem. One cannot respond "spontaneously".
I have a question and answer discussion board. The students are encouraged to ask questions. I ask the students to respond to their classmates if I am not online. It helps them communicate as well.
Could you create a discussion area for "muddy points" for students to contribute to?
I believe it takes more time to plan an online course. You have to ensure that the students clearly understand the material as in some instances they cannot participate in the live chat sessions so they cannot ask questions as they arise.
I agree, assuming that the instuctor is computer literate. I think that developing an online course requires more quality check mechanisms to ensure that work is being completed individually and honestly.
Quality online courses in fact would take more time and effort.For instance a traditional face-to-face assignment when posted online may not be as effective.So it has to be modified, made interactive and tested.Faculty have to convert traditional course into online format, check for consistency, make sure course content is updated and also co-ordinate with the instructional technologist to get the desired outcome.
Indeed they are both important!
Disagree.
If we're doing out job well, it should take approximately the same amount of time. If we're tempted to say that developing an online course takes longer, that may indicate that we're perhaps not putting enough time and effort into the design of our classroom course. Both forms of curriculum design require careful planning and much time; the decisions we make for both are equally important.
Wow! I will be extremely careful.
You are welcome! I learned the hard way. I had a link that went to a positive learning site, but then it changed. I didn't know a porn site bought the link!!! Yes, a porn site!!!!!
Thank you very much for sharing with me this information. I will definitely check my links as often as possible.
Be sure to double check your links often as sites can sell their address to others and the whole content could change!
I do not think that it takes less time to develop online courses. The content of online and traditional courses basically the same. May be in the begining it will be a chalange by using links to help students to navigate through the course content.
Yes, it can be very time consuming, but very informative as well.
It takes longer to create an online course then a f2f course. In the long run it may save you time but in the beginning it is time consuming.
Thank you Asmeret for mentioning proofreading. There must be someone doing quality control in each class.
Hello Shelly,
This is an interesting question. Reading through the responses, I noticed that there are some responses that agree but most disagree. Given my experience as both traditional classroom and online faculty, I would tend to disagree. First, content wise the time invested to develop a quality course takes almost the same (including proofreading) but where it is delivered makes a difference. In the case of the online, it takes much more time and effort because of the lack of F2F and everything has to be written down ("text-best") so there is much more planning, “anticipating” and organizing the information that goes with the content. Whereas in the traditional classroom, as long as I have a solid course material e.g. syllabus, handouts and lesson plan, the rest can be verbally communicated in class, answer students’ questions or have a Q&A session when issues can be clarified, additional information provided. I guess, it is a different ball game. Since it is text-based, the online requires more time for proofreading and editing and uploading succinct information. Whereas in the traditional setting there is less text-based but more F2F interaction, which makes like a lot easier and more enjoyable! to be interacting with students.
