James and Ed,
Thanks for continuing the conversation. We do have to keep the audience, our students, in mind - along with the learning objectives. Thanks again.
David,
The technology will certainly assist the students in moving toward the learning objectives. Your meaningful feedback will as well. Thanks!
James,
Thanks for your input. Everything is done to help the students achieve the learning outcomes. It's great you note this along with modality and removing barriers so that all students can learn. Nice job.
Ed,
You make an excellent point. It is easy to sometimes forget about the audience when developing a course. This could cause you to use the wrong type of language or modality of learning objects.
Great Point!
Jim
Hello Tena,
I believe that the three most important things to consider when authoring and Online course are:
1. What the student needs to know and do. This ties back directly to the course learning objectives.
2. What modality should be used in the course: This ties to taking into account multiple learning styles.
3. Balancing out each module. It is important the each module contain roughly the same amount of information and visual consistency to remove barriers from student learning.
Thanks
Jim
The capability of the students to understand the content of the course is critical. The technology of the course in the online setting must be able to be negotiated by the student or they will be frustrated and discouraged. Feedback while critical in a constructive manner must be done without demeaning the student being criticized.
David
Debra,
Excellent points! We have to take the course objectives into careful consideration as we help all students move toward them. Thanks for the input.
I think the 3 most important aspects when authoring an online course are:
1. What are the course objectives? The most important thing about courses is that the students learn what they need to from the course. If that’s not happening, then there’s no point!
2. Are there different methods of learning the material, and are they being used within the course? Not all students learn the same, so using multiple ways to teach the material is usually more effective.
3. And finally, relevancy. Is the material relevant to the student? If it is not relevant to them, or their chosen field of study, they will not retain it. I think relevancy is a key component that is often overlooked.
Ricardo,
Ah - good point. It's good to know what the students expect and connect those expectations to the learning outcomes. Where there is a good match there, everyone can move forward. Nice job.
Sean,
I use motivational quotes as well. I hope the students read them. Ha! I like that you emphasized accessibility and organization as well. Thanks!
Desiree,
You bring great experiences through from your ground course development to the online courses you'll be working with. Thanks for your input. I'm glad you are enjoying this forum and learning from others.
When authoring my own online course. I believe the three most important things to consider are, What are my students expectations of course...what support may they need...what are my expectations of what they should master.
First, I want to have it inviting and exciting. I'll have motivational/inspirational videos, quotes, etc. Comics that relate to the weekly assignment, discussion, etc. I like to make it fun for students to log in to learn.
Second, I want to have additional resources available and material for the students to learn about the subject. Students learn differently, so, I like to have where students can read and access videos about the subject.
Lastly, it needs to be organized and able to navigate through to access everything without getting lost. Most CMSs are good about this but the materials need to be properly easily accessible.
I have never authored an online course, so taking this CEE development course is quite interesting. I have developed on-ground courses and taught online, so my answers are going to hybridize my experience:
1. I want my students to achieve the objectives for the course and be capable conceptually and technically of what is required of them. Lessons would be developed to tackle creative, cognitive, and capability in the selected field(s).
2. I would develop a varied of lessons or projects to facilitate a variety of learning styles with required readings, class discussions, individual projects, collaborative group projects, etc.
3. I also would thoroughly explore a variety of tools in which I can deliver and content, as well as have them contribute and correspond with each other in insightful and meaningful ways.
It's been a pleasure reading everyone's responses! :)
Jean,
You bring some new terms to this communication. Thanks for that and your extensive posting. Keep up the good work.
When authoring your own online course, what do you believe are the three most important things to consider?
Dr. Crews,
It would be very difficult to mention something that you have not already reviewed among these numerous posts, but let me give this a try as I will try to incorporate some of my “best practicesâ€. This happens to be quite a thought provoking question to limit the response to only the three “most important†things to consider.
1. I would first discuss the course goals with the department chairperson. From there I would consider the learning outcomes of the program and then develop the learning outcomes for the course so that there is a connection and an alignment of goals.
2. My next thought is to understand the student the course is intended for as that would determine if my approach would that of pedagogy, andragogy or heutagogy. This would also determine the level of Bloom’s taxonomy that I would use for my learning objectives. It would also give me an idea of the learning styles of the students. I am generally in favor of both active and experiential learning, but it would depend upon my students. I need to know if I am to be a “sage on the stage†or a†guide on the sideâ€.
3. I would next need to know what LMS that I am designing the course for so that I would be able to plan what technologies that I would have available to me for class design in order to accommodate diverse learning styles. Does the class allow for insertion of videos such as YouTube’s? Do I have any synchronous tools embedded within the class?
Now I do realize that this is just a beginning and there are so many numerous things that I passed over, including reviewing of textbooks and reading materials that I could use for the proposed course and the length of the course. Developing an instructor course facilitation strategy that outlines my activities prior to the course beginning, the first week, mid class, and at the end of the class may not be my first thought, but it is a very important requirement as well.
Jean Gordon
Katherine,
Definitely. We have to know who we are teaching, what we are teaching and how we are going to get that information to our students for ultimate learning. Thanks!
It is important to consider your audience, your course material, and how you are going to organize it.
Robert and Christine,
There seem to be quite a few healthcare instructors in these courses. Glad you are all benefiting from the content. Thanks for your input in these forums.
Robert and Ejike,
Thanks for continuing the conversation. Any time an institution helps prepare the online instructors, the better. This supports not only the instructors, but the students as well. Thanks!
