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online course design

How Much Multimedia Should You Add to PowerPoint Slides When Teaching Online?

PowerPoint is versatile in allowing us to add multimedia (graphics, sound, audio, video, text, animation, etc.) to our presentations for keeping online students’ rapt attention. But how much multimedia should you add? In answering this question, I find that taking into consideration students’ learning styles and cultural/international backgrounds can help to lessen the risk of using too much or too little multimedia in your online PPTs.

Debra Ferdinand PhD September 22, 2010

Providing Multiple Paths for Learning

Students come to an online course with different interests, prior knowledge, and preferred learning styles. This is something that Stephen Holland, chair of the English department at Muscatine Community College and online learning and training associate at the Eastern Iowa Community College District, takes into account whenever he creates or seeks to improve an online course.

Rob Kelly August 5, 2010

Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities in the Online Classroom

Students with learning disabilities tend to learn better in the online environment, but institutions are not doing enough to prepare instructors to meet their needs, says Mary Beth Crum, an online instructor at the University of Wisconsin—Stout and Walden University.

Rob Kelly July 22, 2010

Teaching Standardized Courses: Advantages and Disadvantages

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.

Mary Bart July 12, 2010

Designing Online Courses to Meet the Needs of a Diverse Student Population

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:

Eileen Narozny May 19, 2010

Building a Connection with Online Students Right from the Start

When teaching and designing courses, I find that it’s easy to slip into autopilot and use the same tools and strategies over and over. Autopilot can be comfortable and easy, but I know I don’t do my best work in that state. So I try to look at my courses and materials with fresh eyes as often as I can. Often, I’ll ask another faculty member or designer to look at what I’m designing with a critical eye, and I return the favor for their courses.

Patti Shank PhD CPT April 30, 2010

Three Strategies for Engaging Students through Multimodal Course Design

Like many new online instructors, Laurie Lorence, an English instructor at San Diego Community College, initially created online courses that were fairly linear and mostly text. She quickly realized that such an approach would not work for her students, particularly those in her pre-college learning courses.

Rob Kelly April 9, 2010

Primed for Learning: Maximizing Teachable Moments When Students are Ready and Willing to Learn

Teachable moments, those special times when students are most ready and willing to learn, are traditionally considered unplanned opportunities. But should teachable moments be treated like unexpected gifts or can they actually be set in motion with a little advanced anticipation and planning by the instructor?

Mary Bart December 7, 2009

A Modular Course Design Benefits Online Instructor and Students

Andrea Henne, dean of online and distributed learning in the San Diego Community College District, recommends creating online courses composed of modules—discrete, self-contained learning experiences—and uses a course development method that specifies what to include in each module.

Rob Kelly September 15, 2009

Online Course Management: Overcoming the Challenges of “Anytime” Learning

Although the online classroom environment provides tremendous flexibility of time and place of study, establishing and communicating a course pace and pattern of work can aid both instructor and student, and alleviate confusion of course operation.

Lawrence Ragan PhD. September 4, 2009

A FREE PUBLICATION FROM THE TEACHING PROFESSOR

online course design

How Much Multimedia Should You Add to PowerPoint Slides When Teaching Online?

Providing Multiple Paths for Learning

Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities in the Online Classroom

Teaching Standardized Courses: Advantages and Disadvantages

Designing Online Courses to Meet the Needs of a Diverse Student Population

Building a Connection with Online Students Right from the Start

Three Strategies for Engaging Students through Multimodal Course Design

Primed for Learning: Maximizing Teachable Moments When Students are Ready and Willing to Learn

A Modular Course Design Benefits Online Instructor and Students

Online Course Management: Overcoming the Challenges of “Anytime” Learning

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A FREE PUBLICATION FROM THE TEACHING PROFESSOR

online course design

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