Online Course Development
Techniques and Best Practices
Online Academic Services
W.P. Carey School of Business
First Meeting with Online Academic Services
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New process for new classes-initial meeting will be with
the Lead
What to bring
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An open mind
Your ground classroom teaching techniques
Your latest syllabus
Your concerns about moving your course to an online format
First Meeting with Online Academic Services
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New process for existing classes-initial meeting will be
with the Lead
What to bring
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List of items that did not work well
Any thoughts, ideas, items you want to add to next class
Concerns
Questions
Online vs. Ground Course Design
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Start with thinking of what you do in your ground
classroom
Do not worry about how it can convert
Virtual tools have been developed to replicate most
classroom activities
Online Academic Services is here to help you succeed!
Typical Ground Class Activities
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Lectures
Discussions
Questions and answers
Announcements
Current events
Group work
Field trips
Labs and Simulations
Office hours
Assessments
Videos
Lectures
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Students often comment these are the most valuable
aspect on online courses
Audio and PowerPoint are the most important elements
Smaller clips work better than long lectures
OAS can assist you with selecting a method to record
and teaching you to record
OAS has equipment kits to check-out for lecture
recording
OAS has a quiet room (studio) for recording lectures
Classroom Discussion
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Blackboard Discussion Boards bring the class to life
Students engage with the material
Students interact with each other
Faculty engage with the students
The Discussion Board can be used for assessment
Many students who will not speak up in a face-to-face
setting thrive in online discussion boards
Rich Discussion
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Well structured questions
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Participation requirements
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Open-ended
Example 1 initial post, 3 responses to classmates
“Something to think about”
Great for those who do not like public speaking
Which Question Generates More Discussion?
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What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?
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Bloom’s Taxonomy is a useful tool for instructors to assist with
the formation of assessments at the desired level of learning.
Some lessons and classes are very appropriate for usage of the
lower level of the taxonomy; other courses and lessons should
require higher levels of cognitive mastery. Evaluate a recent
test/assessment that you have been exposed to as a learner.
Discuss the level of Bloom’s (cognitive level) this
test/assessment measured? In your opinion, was this an
appropriate level of cognitive measurement for the
course/activity? Why or why not? Recommend a more
appropriate assessment for the situation and defend your
recommendation
Please be sure to respond to 2 of your classmate's posts as
well in order to earn full credit for the question.
Questions and Answers
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Encourage students to ask questions in the classroom
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Many other students may have the same question
Saves multiple emails
Gives a sense of comfort to students
Set up a discussion board thread for Q&A
Check frequently
Announcements
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Effective way to disseminate information
Can be permanent or timed-release
Notice of new announcement can be emailed to students
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Will drive the student to the online classroom to retrieve
Forces students to classroom and away from email
Can override student notification settings
Current Events
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Do not miss the opportunity to use current events
related to your subject!
Post a link to the article or news-clip into
announcements
Can be used as a classroom activity
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Have every student locate/discuss a current event
Can be used as a group activity
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Groups can chose the most significant event for reporting
Group Work
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Group Chat in Discussion Board
Groups in Virtual Classroom
Group Pages
Google Docs
Field Trips
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Yes, you can do virtual field trips
Some institutions have these set up
Second life offers many locations
Again, let us help you find these
Labs and Simulations
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Virtual labs are available for many disciplines
Our office can help you locate these
Business simulations can be done by students and groups
and reported into the online classroom
Office Hours
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Virtual office hours can be held
Students know you are available to chat
Individual appointments can be set or you can have open
hours
Assessments
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Do not all have to be tests/quizzes
Assign points to discussion questions
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Blackboard gradebook can track and assign
Group work grades
More assessments worth fewer points works best in the
online teaching environment
Testing
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Respondus Software
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Multiple-choice
Short answer
Essay exams through BlackBoard
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Digital dropbox
Direct email
Videos
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Copyright is different in the online environment
URLs to public videos (ideally uploaded by source)-OK
Publisher-supplied videos-OK
Permissions needed for most others
Copyright and Distance Learning
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No formal ASU policy
Fair use for educational purposes
Protection rules contained in Section 110 of Copyright
Act
Due to storage on our servers, this may be different than
classroom use rules
Commonly Accepted Suggestions for Fair
Use
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What you MAY use in distance learning classrooms
without copyright owner permissions
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Text
Photograph, chart, map or graph
Static computer screen display (not moving)
An illustration
A single still frame from a video or DVD
Portions of audio from non-dramatic music
A weblink (URL) to a public video
Commonly Accepted Suggestions for Fair
Use
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Suggestions for what is NOT allowed in a distance
learning classroom without permissions
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Full motion video or audio
DVD
Video file on a computer
Consecutive images from a slide set or film
Audio from a dramatic work
Generally accepted rule-if it moves, it’s not allowed without
permission
Questions?