Lucille,
Right on. We have to make sure we know who we are teaching and how to effectively get the content across to students to help them understand and reach the objectives. Thanks!
Nizar,
You are right about a never ending cycle. We have to keep up with so much technology and integrate it into what we are teaching in a variety of ways. Thanks for your input.
How will the students be tested on what they know? What will they have to do in order to prove they can?
Hi, Dr. Crews,
I thought I had responded to this yesterday, but apparently I did not complete all the steps for posting. If this is a second response, it may vary from my response yesterday.
The first thing that comes to mind is, "what is my subject matter. What am I trying to teach? What are the significant points that I am trying to get across.
The second, "who am I trying to teach?" It's important to recognize that personal experiences vary due to cultural differences. It is important to get to know your student.
And finally, "how do I convince the student to buy into the learning experience?" How can I bring the subject matter alive?
I believe the three most important things to remember when authoring your own online course is:
.What am I trying to teach? Course goals and objectives
.Who am I teaching? What do they all ready know? How do I bring out the best in my students, meet their needs in triggering the thought process.
.What do I need to communicate through a variety of learning style preferences.
Hi Dr. Crews,
Technology is the first thing that comes to mind. With the advent of technology, we can leverage many tools to enhance the learning experience for our learners. Plus, students vary in their learning styles, so we should use technology to deliver traditional written material, e-books, video tutorials, video conference capabilities, whiteboard sessions, chats, and emails. This will span the diverse need of the students, and help making the learning experience a fun one.
Learning outcomes is the second thing that comes to mind. The material needs to be in agreement with the course objectives as well. Once we have the learning outcomes established, we can design the course accordingly.
Finally, the components of the learning material. For example, a typical online class includes a discussion forum, weekly assignment, and a quiz at times. This is a good approach/framework as it will help achieve the learning outcomes. Classes also include team projects, and while these are a great exposure to team work, I believe they are not helpful for some of the introductory classes. They create confusion at times.
I personally have not designed/authored a class before, but I have seen good and poorly designed classes through out my teaching years so far. And if we approach it from a project management stand point, it will always be a work in progress. We measure what we are doing (benchmark), and seek to continuously improve on our efforts. It's a never ending cycle :-) And that's part of the online teaching charm - never a dull moment!!!
John,
The course content and the learning objectives are essential to begin the learning process in the online environment. And, you are right on target with your discussion about getting to know the students and the LMS to get the content to the students. Nice job.
The three things I consider when putting together an online course are: 1) the nature of the content I wish to teach and its compatibility with the online environment; for instance, Logic is very tough to teach online; 2) the students to whom I will be presenting content - i.e., graduate or undergraduate, introductory or advanced, traditional vs. not-traditional, etc.; and 3) the nature of the LMS in conjunction with the particular school/program for which I am teaching.
Dr. John D. Wise
Walter,
You stated this well. We do have to understand the students, know what they know, know what they need to know and provide content in a variety of ways to assist all learners. Thanks!
In my opinion based upon my reading and experience, I believe the things that are important to consider are:
• What are the concepts and course content that I wish the students to learn?
• How will I best deliver the material to the students so they can learn the concepts easily?
• How will I assess the students’ knowledge of the content? IE: What do students know and what can they show and do. How can the student prove to me that they understand the concepts.
Walter
Walter van Poollen
francis,
Connecting everything to the worthwhile educational objectives is an essential component to the learning environment. Thanks for your input.
Alan,
You bring up some very good points. We are constantly learning and we have to think about what the students already know in combination with what they need to know and help them reach the learning outcomes. Thanks for your input.
Craig,
The audience (students) and course content are essential. Making that connection and aligning everything to the objectives is essential.
Thanks!
Letitia,
Nice list. It is important to make sure students understand the objectives so they know what they need to do to reach the course expectations. Thanks for your input.
How does this course help the students achieve the goal of learning and pursuing their careers. Is this a course the students would be interested in and does have an educational objective that is worth pursuing.
The three most important things to consider when authoring your own online course are:
1. What do you expect students to know? In IT knowledge is definitely important as are hands-on skills gained by labs, exercises, and simulations.
2. What do you expect students to be able to do? In IT this is often based on industry norms, job descriptions, fields that are experiencing growth and that pay well.
3. How will students gain the necessary knowledge? Here we are looking at a blend or lecture, demonstration, labs, and exercises.
You want to follow Bloom's taxonomy to the extent that students just don't repeat memorized facts, but can respond to new situations and properly troubleshoot and solve new and novel hardware and software problems.
Computers don't care what degree, certifications or experience that you have, they just give you random challenges to solve.
You want to stress that the IT field is a moving target and takes a lifelong commitment to learning and growing, but this is very rewarding to those that enjoy a challenge.
The iterative nature of learning in IT is that if you knew how to solve a computer problems three ways today, you want to learn a new way tomorrow.
Even after formal schooling is completed, more certifications should be gained and 20% of your time on the job should be devoted to learning something new.
So as a course author you want to teach using as many senses as possible, including muscle memory, and you want to instill in your students a love of lifetime learning.
Your material should also be up to date using the latest technologies, because Internet years are like dog years and yesterday's technology isn't good enough today.
I believe the three most important things to consider are:
1. Consider the learning goals of the course. This is in the spirit of the training module of course but it is essential as the author of the course to have clear learning objectives for anyone taking your course.
2. Consider the audience. Clearly identify the types of students taking your course, their preferred learning styles, their scholastic and professional background, and the more practical considerations of technology resources (type of computer, internet connectivity, etc.).
3. Consider the content. Besides the basic fundamental written content for your lessons you should have various other visual and audial content for your students to use. This can include outside resources on the internet as well as self-produced content.
Hi Tina,
The 3 important things to consider are:
1. The content as it relates to the course
2. Ensuring that the student understands the content based on the objectives.
3.If media is used, it must be consistent so that all students are able to use it.
Thanks.
Letitia,
Excellent. You bring up very good points about knowing your students and knowing your content.
Thanks for your input.
When authoring a course, you must:
1. Consider the subject and what you want the student to get out of it.
2. Think about your audience (students) when wanting to create media tools.
3. Consider the level of the content depending on the course.
Thanks,
Letitia
