Tips for successful planning and facilitation of creating an e classroom

Tips for successful planning and facilitation of creating an e-course
January 2013 – Marius Pienaar

No “one size fits all”
A well-organized course and a clean course with expert content
is the FIRST step to retaining students!

Pitfalls in online course design
An “online course” is the electronic version of class hand-outs
(dumping site)
All materials a student might have viewed on paper are now
read onscreen, etc.
Reading course material on a computer screen does not make
for a memorable learning experience

Don’t let the LMS drive your thinking
The empty myTUTor template makes you think you must fill it
with text-based information only
Open your mind to wider possibilities
Think about the kinds of learning experiences you want to create
rather than letting myTUTor define a more limited view of
putting a course online

Many lecturers expect their students to consume knowledge
rather than create it
Most online courses do not support students in making
knowledge their own through practice, experience, and play

Many lecturers ignore the ways students learn from each other
Many online courses assume a two-way dialogue between
student and lecturer
Wikis and other tools: students cannot work together, cannot
include assignments, students cannot share ideas and resources,
cannot present topics to each other, and critique each other’s
work

Course design
Does it make sense to students?
Are you giving clear directions to your students?

Course design
Make sure you have a warm welcome message for your students
Keep Announcements and Calendar currently dated
Include email address, office phone number, office hours, as
well as a photo (150x150 pixels)
Connect with online students. Use Blackboard IM, schedule
office hours and meet students virtually

Course design
The first course content area = “Start Here”
• Lecturer’s expectations of students
• Contact instructions
• Put everything here just as if the lecturer was meeting with
students face-to-face on the first day of class
Consider including a photo of the textbook along with the ISBN
number as an aid to students.

Navigation Basics
Consistency, consistency, consistency
Be mindful of the amount of navigational areas in a course
Organize, combine, and delete if necessary
20 is too much
4 is not enough
9 or 10 is substantive yet not overwhelming
Consider merging duplicate areas

Navigation Basics
Keep it concise, neat and crisp
Clean up duplicate items in every course area.
Keep the course organized and easy on the students!
Design names that are distinct and clear. Stay clear of words that can be
confusing or too broad. Be specific. Be consistent
The less clicks the better
The less downloads the better

Objectives
Every assignment, Learning Module, activity, reading, etc. is to
help students achieve a specific course objective
Organize all the course items around those objectives and state
them clearly for the student

Chunking with Learning Modules
Course content broken into “chunks”
Content organized in conceptually related blocks
Allows for easy navigation
Consistent, logical, clear, common sense
Let the content control the chunks

Chunking with Learning Modules
Why Modules?
Easier to find course content
Allows students to focus on content rather than form
Content becomes manageable
Prevents information overload

Discussion board
Keep it current
Include an Ask the Lecturer Forum for student questions
Include a Student Lounge Forum for a place where students can
meet with each other

Blog and other reflection tools
To learn from experience
Reflection integrates. Take the fragments of a course and pull
them all together
Reflection takes stock
Reflection helps continue learning as well as teaching
Reflection occurs in a private space where what is learned can
more easily be defined by the student

Tests and Pools Area
Keep the area clean with no duplicate exams for confusion
After a course copy, check the test area to make sure the tests
copied over correctly
Although the tests will show up, you must still deploy your tests

In summary
Course Introduction
Greet your students with a welcome message, and tell them
how to get started in the course.
Introduce yourself to the class, and have students introduce
themselves to you and to one another in order to begin building
a “community of learners”.

In summary
Course Introduction
Acquaint students with the course tools.
Ensure that students understand what is required for them to
succeed in your course.

In summary
Course Organisation and Design
Structure your course in a well-organized manner, and make it
easy to navigate.
Ensure that your links are active and up-to-date.
Create web pages that are consistent and reasonably attractive.

In summary
Course Organisation and Design
Design your course so that all aspects of it are accessible to
students with disabilities.
Include one discussion board forum where students can ask and
answer class-related questions and one where they can ask and
answer non-class-related questions. Also, post frequently-asked
questions in your course.
Design your course so that pages can be downloaded within a
reasonable period of time even without a high-speed Internet
connection.

In summary
Instructional Design
Introduce learning units with an overview of the topic.
Connect what the students already know about the topic to
what they are going to learn.
Write and post objectives for each learning unit.

In summary
Align your learning activities to your objectives and outcomes.
Align your assessments to your objectives and outcomes.
Structure your learning activities to foster student-lecturer,
student-student, and student-content interactions.

In summary
Clearly write your content and lessons.
Post rubrics for grading.
Ensure that the breadth of your content covers all of the content
in the course outline of record.

In summary
“Chunk” the information that you post for students.
Ensure that your content meets the needs of students with
different learning styles.
Extend your students’ learning with optional web resources.

In summary
When designing lengthy quizzes or exams, design them so
students see one question at a time.
Gather feedback from your students on the course so you can
improve it for the future.
Refrain from using copyrighted materials illegally.

Tips for successful planning and facilitation of creating an e classroom

Tips for successful planning and facilitation of creating an e classroom

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Tips for successful planning and facilitation of creating an e classroom