Posts Tagged ‘Online Course Development’
February 2 - Four Keys to Successful Service Learning in Online Courses
By: Christopher Hill in Online Education
Many faculty members may believe that service learning and distance education are mutually exclusive endeavors. However, David Pratt, associate professor of education and coordinator of learning and technology for Purdue University North Central, has found otherwise. He has successfully integrated a service learning component into an online course, and the lessons he has learned are applicable for anyone planning to do likewise.
July 6 - Five Common Pitfalls of Online Course Design
By: Elizabeth St. Germain in Online Education
Much of what passes for an “online course” these days could more accurately be described as the electronic version of class hand-outs. These courses usually consist of a course description, a syllabus, lecture notes, reading lists, and assignment checklists. In other words, whatever materials a student might have viewed on paper in the past are now read onscreen, and whatever presentations a student might have watched in the classroom are now observed on their screen.
January 11 - Data Driven Decision Making for Online Instructional Design
By: Mary Bart in Online Seminars
With constrained budgets and increasing calls for evidence of learning effectiveness, online programs are being forced to continually evaluate programs with an eye toward increased effectiveness. This seminar will introduce participants to strategies for leveraging analytics to inform the instructional design processes and improvements.
July 12 - Teaching Standardized Courses: Advantages and Disadvantages
By: Mary Bart in Online Education
Online courses are increasingly being developed by a team of instructional designers, curriculum specialists, and instructional technologists. In the majority of cases, these courses feature standardized content such as a common syllabus and assignments, and reusable course modules and learning objects.
May 19 - Designing Online Courses to Meet the Needs of a Diverse Student Population
By: Eileen Narozny in Online Education
When designing an online course we tend to create the course based on our needs and time restraints, and often do not think of our students and the reasons why they are taking an online course. To effectively meet our students diverse needs, we must step back and ask ourselves:
April 21 - Growing Successful Online Programs at a Small School
By: Mary Bart in Online Seminars
They might not want to meet on the football field, but in the arena of online education, small schools can compete effectively with far larger ones. Learn proven steps for launching new online programs, including how to gain faculty support, identify lead administrators, develop solid instructional designs, and provide technological help during the transition to the new delivery system.
October 22 - More Principles for Improving Online Transparency, Quality
By: Christopher Hill in Distance Learning Administration
In Tuesday’s post, we introduced Transparency by Design, an initiative from a consortium of adult-serving educational institutions with significant commitments to distance education. Today we conclude the organization’s list of eight basic principles for supporting transparency:
July 28 - Three Ways to Gauge the Quality of an Online Course
By: Rob Kelly in Online Education
Shortcomings of an online course are not always obvious to the person who created it or teaches it. That is why it is helpful to seek other sources of information to determine whether a course is meeting its objectives. Mary Hricko, library director and associate professor of library and media services at Kent State University Geauga Campus and Twinsburg Center, recommends doing this in the following three ways:
March 17 - Tips for Teaching Large Classes Online
By: Rob Kelly in Distance Learning Administration, Online Education, Trends in Higher Education
Jonathan P. Mathews, assistant professor of energy and geo-environmental engineering at Penn State University, teaches a high-enrollment (more than 400 students) general education online course, Energy and the Environment. Although he has two teaching assistants, the logistics of managing such a large class would be overwhelming without implementing the following course design and management ideas.
February 27 - Using Video Clips to Stimulate Discussion in Online Courses
By: Rob Kelly in Asynchronous Learning and Trends, Online Education
If you’re looking to improve threaded discussions in your online courses, consider using brief video clips as discussion prompts. When carefully selected and integrated into a course, these clips can lead students to higher-order thinking and appeal to auditory and visual learning styles.
