I agree that developers of online courses do not have to be technologically inclined. With the advent of the many course authoring tools, it has become easier than ever to develop an online course that is of excellent quality.
It does still take a certain expertise to develop the course content and materials, but does not require a computer expert to develop the online course.
Trista,
It is good to see you in this course. You are correct that their are various aspect to online course development. In our situation, I see us as more of the ISD portion of the course development. If this is the case, I feel that we would at least want to become super users of the technology so that we would be able to build a course which uses the technology to its fullest.
Thanks
Jim
Shelly,
Thank you very much for this question.
I agree with your statement to a point. While designers of online courses do not need to be technological wizards, they do need to have a high level of familiarity with the technology to properly design the course. They need to understand how certain features can help the students to achieve the desired course outcomes. They also need to understand how to use the various features together to maximize student learning.
To this end, they need to become super users. However, online course developers do not need to become proficient in the technical aspects of programming and networking.
Jim
Xianbin,
We do not want to put "stuff" in our classroom just because it is cool....we need it to be good quality as well, so once this skill is acquired....look out class!
Shelly Crider
Detra,
I love the fact that you mention promoting critical thinking as students need this skill!
Shelly Crider
MaryCatherine,
We become a little more like a wizard each class we create. I hope that if you are not comfortable, there is someone who can help you or that you take time to sit in on a class.
Shelly Crider
Steve,
Most management systems do have some great training sessions to make you feel comfortable creating your class.
Shelly Crider
Nitin,
Makes you wonder what we will see in another five years!!
Shelly Crider
I think I do not agree or disagree. Development of online courses needs some skills, for example, audio-video recording and editing, graph making, and animation making. But once the developer knows how to complete these jobs, it does not need to be very technological wizards.
We may just use the same skills to create a new course.
Thanks.
Steven, I agree with you. Developers need to have a deep understanding of the software in order to be well-rounded in what's appropriate and suitable for the learners.
Anne, you are so right. I think the more comfortable and knowledgeable one is with technology, the more "creative" he/she will be with the use of it.
I disagree, somewhat. Developers do not have to be technological wizards but they need to be familiar and savvy enough with technology to produce a course that is rich in content, intellectually challenging, and one that promotes critical thinking.
It would certainly not hurt for online course developers to be technological wizards, but the converse is not necessarily true. Whether an instructor or course developer uses more or less utilization of technology is not as important as the primary goal to help students learn. The level of technology best used to achieve this goal may be assessed during the early phases of student evaluation. In the end, while technological savvy is often an advantage, it is not a requirement as many effective technology rich teaching tools are simple to use.
Agreed. However, some amount of familiarity with software and persistence is required. All of the online management systems I've worked with take some time to figure out. A few hours of training with Blackboard or Canvas should get anyone comfortable with computers up and running.
I would much rather have to fiddle with the OMS or edit a video, format pdfs, etc., than to just hand content over to a developer/sysadmin and have them do it all. It is nice to be able to make quick changes to a course rather than to have to rely on the schedule of a developer.
This used to be true a few years back - they have to be technical experts. Now there are apps and tools that one can use to create online courses and content.
This makes it easier to have a instructional design person work with subject matter experts to create the course, without a need for a technical whiz to be included as well.
Chris,
Someone who is not necessarily an instructor but helping to design the course will bring insight that the instructor does not see.
Shelly Crider
Peter,
Teamwork is so very important with intstructors and/or students!
Shelly Crider
Nancy,
Exactly and this is what we need to make sure the students know how to do.....know where to go to get what you need!
Shelly Crider
I sure hope that online instructors and course developers need not be tech wizards! I think it is crucial to have a fundamental understanding of any technology that you are using in the classroom, but expertise is not required. It is important, however, for your organization to have experts. Nothing is more frustrating to learners and instructors to have a platform that malfunctions. This sets such a negative tone for any online course.
I do not think that designers of online course have to be technologically gifted, but they must have at least a basic understanding of technology. For example, my children are much more comfortable with new technology than am I, as I need time to gain a comfort level. But, I am a subject-matter expert in several areas, and I am savvy enough to navigate an online environment. My mother, for example, is a subject-matter expert in many areas, too, as a retired high school teachers, but she is totally out of her element online. Thus, the level of expertise is relative, but necessary at least at some level.
