Rebecca and Edward,
Thanks for keeping the conversation going. Thanks for sharing.
I may broach one more component of online education. This area is among the biggest of challenges, I have found, after teaching online for 5 years. That issue is the bringing the course objectives (what the students should equally derive from the training to a multitude of learning styles and learning abilities without the benefit of seeing the students face to face and listening to them speak and noticing their trepidations or fear. In the classroom, we educators are fairly astute as "sizing up" the students and making quick adjustments for their learning abilities. How do we do this online?
Yes, Edward. The fundamentals are almost common sense - and correct. As I was reading the posts I also noticed something very important could be missing. Teaching has been coined, "A Work of Heart" and the passion for the material or subject matter will transcend all lines of communication and design figuratively speaking. Do you agree? I teach ADR - Alternative Dispute Resolution including Arbitration and Mediation. I have seen with my own eyes the benefits of litigation intervention with peaceful, collaboratiave settlement. I am passionate about my course material and my students thank me profusely for sharing my skills with them.
Michael,
Right on. Knowing your audience in any situation is important and your students are your audience. Knowing your content and how to deliver it in a variety of ways is essential. Thanks for your input.
First and foremost one has to know what type of students are going to be taking course; their academic levels and some knowledge of their proficincy. Secondly, know the course objectives. What do we want the student to know and come away with from the course. Having a solid knowledge base of subject is integral.Lastly, knowing the delivery formats available is necessary. Being comfortable with how everyhting is integrated and having a clear vision of how content will be delivered and graded is essential
David,
Right on. The objectives are key and this ties than all together. Thanks.
Dr. Tena B. Crews
David,
Nice list and you have tied everything to the objectives. That is the way it should be. Nice job.
Lisa,
It is a consideration of your audience analysis you pointed out in a previous forum posting. Consider everything. Thanks.
Lisa,
Right on. Always knowing you audience and content increases the opportunity for more learning experiences. And, wiout essential communication with meaningful feedback, students will be frustrated and the learning process will suffer. Thanks for your input.
When authoring your own online course the three most important things to consider are:
1) How does this class Course Objectives meet the Program Objectives?
[ Why is this class being offered? How does the subject matter complement the other courses? What do want students to know when they are done?]
2) How do the individual assignments support the Course Objectives?
[Now we know what the objective are…what assignments can be developed to meet those Objectives]
3) Are general expectation about the class being effectively communicated?
When authoring your own online course the three most important things to consider are:
1) How does this class Course Objectives meet the Program Objectives?
[ Why is this class being offered? How does the subject matter complement the other courses? What do want students to know when they are done?]
2) How do the individual assignments support the Course Objectives?
[Now we know what the objective are…what assignments can be developed to meet those Objectives]
3) Are general expectation about the class being effectively communicated?
I did not even consider the generation fact. Many classes are so diverse, that this is important to look at.
Three things I believe are important are:
1. Subject - Knowing the subject material as if you are the expert is very important
2. Audience - Being aware of the type of audience you are working with is important so taht you can make sure that you are on their level when presenting the material
3. Communication - Communication is important everywhere, but in a learning enviroment, it can make or break that course/student in the course.
Dennis,
Yes, I agree. Activities and projects are necessary. I am a believer in project-based learning so that students can apply what they have learned in the course to a real-world problem. Some times there is no right answer/solution, it's how well they defend their answer and have done the research. Thanks for your input.
Dennis,
You are so right. Students do not many times read. We should provide voice over lectures, videos, simulations, discussion boards, chat rooms, etc. to engage the students in the learning process. Online instruction does not have to be heavily text based. Thanks!
Dennis,
Right on. It's important to have some knowledge of where the students "are coming from" and what they have learned when they leave the course. That's a good way to see if they achieved te learning outcomes. Thanks for your input.
Activities can be a real challenge. A good one can be time consuming to write if you include a proposed solution with it. I've had some for technical course aimed at newcomers that were time consuming to do even without a solution. Still, many students earn best by doing so they are often worth doing.
The varying learning styles of students creates a challenge for us, and one that we have to include in anything we do. While online instruction is heavily text based we can't assume all students learn well with text. Some topics don't present well in text only either. Whenever possible, I like to create a mix of resource that appeal to different learning styles.
The three most important aspects to consider when creating an online course are:
1) The objectives of the course. Normally this is already provided by the school/employer but in some cases the ID will design them.
2) The expected knowledge level of the students. If the expected students are homogeneous in background such as only have some set of prerequisites to a course, design is easier as there is less variation to consider in courseware. If it's possible that students will have varying backgrounds then some means to pretest and bypass modules the student knows might be appropriate. Post testing also could be effective to help students remediate when learning didn't occur to the required degree.
3) The nature of the delivery platform. While most essential features will be available in any LMS, some lend themselves to particular techniques better than others. We can exploit these to a large degree.
Michele,
Providing relevant content in a variety of ways to help all learners understand is essential. Making sure students connect the learning of the content to the learning outcomes is also important. Feedback is essential to help students understand how to improve and meet set learning outcomes. Thanks for your input.
