Having worked as a course developer, I disagree. While it is helpful to have a basic understanding of technology in terms of what it can and cannot do, it is not necessary. I have developed plenty of online courses without having any knowledge at all of HTML or any other programming language. Fortunately, I have had instructional design specialists with whom I work who are able to take what I have created and "translate" it into an online format. I have learned much from them, and over the years I have a solid working knowledge of platforms. However, I have never felt that I had to become an expert in technology to be a good course developer.
Although this kind of expertise certainly would make it easier to develop an online courses so I do agree that developers do not have to be technological wizards. They should have the technology background required to use the features of the course delivery platform.
Ruben,
Oh yes! I believe most of the LMS platforms do have a lot of tutorials! YouTube has a lot to offer too!!
Shelly Crider
Wells,
I feel that are what most instructors are. We leave the real technical issues to those who are trained!
Shelly Crider
Valerie,
Word and PowerPoint have certainly come a long way! You can add voice to PowerPoints and Word has so many options to beef up content.
Shelly Crider
In my experience, only a very basic level of experience with technology is necessary. There are many tutorials and training sessions provided by the school. In addition, we usually have very good tech support people.
I agree. You don't have to be a wizard. You do have to have some basic knowledge on how to use software that will allow you produce images, animations, etc. Most of these software packages have the help files to answer your questions. If not there's always a forum or user group on the web to provide answers. That goes for a LMS that you may utilize too. An LMS like Moodle provides extensive help files that are always available by clicking a question mark icon.
I would say that have to be a subject matter expert. They could be a SME and not be an IT expert. However, with that said they certainly should be at least some what computer literate and competent. Any lack of IT or Tech skills should be minimized and off set by the wealth of knowledge and experience they bring to the table.
I think most instructors would be able to create some quality text-based resources. Once created in Word Processing software, such as Microsoft Office or even OpenOffice, I would probably convert the document to an Adobe PDF, which is generally considered to be ‘the’ electronic delivery source for documents. Some instructors, depending on how much they can stand their own voice, would probably be able to use a microphone to record an audio sound byte for their course. Perhaps an audio file for each week’s introduction. Most standard issue laptops have a recording program built into the OS, such as Windows Sound Recorder. Free tools like Audacity are great for editing audio, if need be. Visuals are also pretty simple for instructors to put together –images are widely available on the web. Give my copyright compliance zeal, I would probably provide them with a chart (such as this one: US Copyright Reference Table) and best practices for images (and where to retrieve them from – such as museums, creative commons, etc.). The last type of media listed I would encourage my instructors to create is video. Camtasia is pretty straight forward, but even simpler is creating PowerPoint and converting it to video. PowerPoint 2010 has a built in video maker, were you can record audio and set up the timing of your slides, and then export it all to video. I actually did this as introduction media for an art history course the last time I built one. Talk about budget-friendly multimedia! :)
Beyond this, I would leave tech-heavy programs up to the Instructional Designers.
Alfred,
I certainly hope that all of our instructors are competant and comfortable as well. It shows in the classroom.
Shelly Crider
Good day,
I think, Bobby, that having a level of expertise is of value, especially in the specific area.
Knowing the elements needed to create the online courses as intended should be the focus. The audience, which would be students, should be the primary concern for the production.
Respectfully, Perry Spann
Good day,
Developers of online courses do not have to be technological wizards in my opinion. I think training and proficiency of the foundational elements required to develop the courses is necessary.
I think understanding the content of what should be displayed in the course and why based on the students accessing the materials, such as assignments or the syllabus, is necessary. However, excelling in the field of technology in several realms may not be needed. Knowing how to make the courses online excellent is important to know. Expertise, professionalism, projections, format, and presentation should be considered. Liking the field of developing online courses may be required to continue to make edits as needed based on enhancements in the field that may become available over time.
Respectfully, Perry Spann
Ronald,
There is also so many tutorials for each platform out there.
Shelly Crider
I agree that that do not have to be technological wizards. They do have to be competant and comfortable in the online environment. They do have to have a support system of technology experts to fall back on. I thinka a development teamis an option.
I would agree that most instructors dont have the people to sit with and develop a on-line course. I would believe that most of the trachers are getting there course from the IT department on campus. They are not getting any traning on it to touble shoot it.
William,
Indeed you do. Make sure you get plenty of "playtime" on your own platform so that you can see what students will be going through.
Shelly Crider
I agree that they don't have to be technical wizards. At the very least, though, They should be competent using the Internet, using email (including how to send attachments), and Competent using MS Word. Also, if any other competencies are required, students should be well aware of them before registering for the course.
I agree, but you do need to understand how to use whatever chat system you use such as adobe breeze or Blackboard, plus PowerPoint. Students need to use PPT, Word or Wordperfect, and probably Excel. Someone who is computer illiterate will have trouble in the Online classroom. You don't have to be a compter wizard or IT specialize, but you do need some computer training before taking an online class. Then a student has to understand how to manipulate within the online class which hopefully whichever college they attend will provide an introduction class for working online. This apparent doesn't always happen. I have students at my university that are F2F students primarily but occasionally take an online class. We call their hybrid students. I can tell you they are totally unprepared for online classes. Our land campuses do have people there to assist them, but many don't use the help & struggle, fail, or drop class. It does take some knowledge to operate online. It isn't for the weak.
Deborah,
Excactly! If an instructor cannot movitvate through the technology, how do we expect students to do so?
Shelly Crider
david,
Simple can be outstanding at times!! Students want the content to be understandable.
Shelly Crider
