Introduction to
Online Course Design
Sharon Roushdy and Deborah Mateik
OIT Learning Technologies Group
April 6, 2011
Main Topics
 Introduction: Benefits, Challenges, Environments,
Resources, Media Selection, and Planning
 Content Delivery Considerations
 Communication and Collaboration
 Assessment and Evaluation
 Getting Started
Benefits of a Well Designed Online
Course
 Flexibility
 Time
 Location
 Improved Interaction
Facilitates successful student engagement, learning, and
course retention with well designed:
 student  student interaction.
 student  instructor interaction.
 student  content interaction.
So, how do we get there? What are the challenges?
Guidelines/Checklist
See
Basic Online Course Components
Guidelines
(at http://otal.umd.edu/ID-process, under Designing
Your Course)
More Guidelines
 Components of Good Online Course Design
(http://www.4faculty.org/includes/digdeeper/online/lc_outco
mes_based_instruc.htm)
 A Quality Scorecard for the Administration of
Online Education Programs
(http://sloanconsortium.org/quality_scoreboard_online_prog
ram)
Challenges
 Design (time; iterative process)
 Identifying outcomes and creating assessments
 Replacing f2f lecture with appropriate online interactions and
activities
 Adapting and developing materials to the online environment
 Developing a cohesive and organized online presence and
community.
 Learning to use and feel comfortable with the online tools
 Teaching
 Keeping students engaged
 Keeping students on track
 Managing workload
Planning Your Course
Initial standard instructional design questions (the
“Ws” that steer you towards “how”)
 Who are your students?
 Undergraduates, graduates, working adults, residents, or
geographically dispersed, special needs?
 What are your course goals and objectives?
 Can objectives be stated in terms of outcomes?
 When is the term and what is length of your course?
 Standard term (Fall, Spring) or compressed (Summer, Winter)
Online Teaching Environments
Live/Synchronous
When you need:
 Increased personal interaction
and community
 Immediacy
 Spontaneity
Online Teaching Environments, cont.
Not Live/Asynchronous
When you want:







To post content/lecture/notes
Recorded information and interactions
A flexible location and/or time
Reflection and response time for students
Ongoing discussion
Participation tracking
Central content distribution
Selecting Tools or Media
Which tool(s)?
 Several tools to choose from, some share
common features
 Select the best fit for what you want to
accomplish
 Weigh the advantages and disadvantages and
cost/benefits.
 Not sure?




Consult with LT instructional designer
Visit otal.umd.edu
Take training workshops
Experiment
Content Delivery
How can the content most effectively (or
efficiently) be delivered?
Synchronously or Asynchronously?
Content Delivery Considerations, cont.
 Online Formats
 Electronic text
 Pre-recorded lectures
 Live online lectures that are recorded
Content Delivery Considerations,
cont.
 Materials Development and Organization




Length (especially audio, video)
Modularity, chunking
Consistency
Size (smaller is better)
 Common File formats




Text: (e.g., .pdf, .doc/docx, .rtf)
PowerPoint (e.g., .ppt/.pptx)
Images (e.g., .jpg, .gif, .png)
Media: (various)
 Accessibility
ELMS Sample Course
UTAP Course (Sample)
Example: ECON 200
recorded video)
(pre-
Wimba Live Classroom Environment Example Screenshot
Communication &
Collaboration
Communication and Interaction
between
1
2
3
students and
content
students and
their peers
students and
instructor
Guiding Principles
 Establishing a community is strategic to the
success of an online course
 The collaborative activities and products are
useful tools for promoting community
 Size of class, level of students (e.g., undergrad
vs. grad), course discipline will impact choices
made for creating communities and developing
activities to foster collaboration and community
Communication Tools
Available in ELMS
 Asynchronous (“anytime”)
 Discussion Board
 Wikis
 Blogs
 E-Mail
 Wimba Voice Board
 Synchronous (“same time”)
 Live Chats
 Wimba Classroom
 Wimba Pronto
Examples of Collaborative
Online Activities
 Group discussion
 Guest speakers
 Case studies
 Collaborative
writing/presentation
 Debates
 Panels and studentmoderated discussion
 Role playing
 Games
 Student-led support
 Demonstrations
 Peer review
 Brainstorming
 Nonverbal
communication
Assessment and
Evaluation
Assessment and Evaluation
Considerations
What will be different when you are fully
online?
 Face-to-face:
 Proctored, secure
 No technical issues
 Must be scheduled, time restriction
 Online:
 If un-proctored, less secure (especially for objective tests/quizzes)
 Possible technical issues
 Flexible scheduling, although can have time restriction
Assessment and Evaluation
Considerations
Consider more frequent, formative assessments and
evaluations:
 Periodic low-stakes quizzes
 Pre and post tests
 Peer assessments (group work)
 Mid-course evaluation
 CATs/Formative Assessment/Self-assessments
 Student reactions and understanding
 Checkpoint, feedback for instructor
Grading strategy: Use rubrics
One Minute Paper,
Muddiest Point
Example questions:
 What was the most important (useful, significant, crucial)
thing you learned in today’s class?
 In what areas did you understand the most? The least?
 What was the muddiest point in today’s lecture?
Tip: Plan to follow-up with individuals or as a group.
Example Tool strategies:
ELMS Discussions
ELMS Quiz or Survey
Examples: KNES 370 and UTAP
Release of certain elements of content or assessment tools is made based
on student access or completion of other content or assessments.
Selective release criteria
Summary
 Good online course design involves:
 Selecting the most appropriate activities and
environments to meet the requirements of your students
and course goals and objectives.
 Consistent and coherent organization of online
materials
 Clear and detailed instructions and expectations
 Regular instructor communication
 Instructor feedback on student activities
Summary, cont.
 Planning begins with key considerations
regarding:
 Student characteristics
 Goals and objectives/outcomes
 Constraints (e.g., number of weeks, available technologies,
etc.)
 Characteristics of live and asynchrononous environments
 Content delivery options
 Communication, collaboration, and interaction possibilities
 Assessment and evaluation strategies
 Course management and student support
 Development of syllabus that incorporates elements of the
online environment.
Begin: Getting Started Activity
 Start with a Single Course Module
1. Identify a learning unit or module in your course.
2. Identify a learning outcome associated with this module that
supports the course outcomes and goals as a whole. (i.e., I want
the students to …..”).
3. What work will students do in this module? (e.g., individual
assignment, discussion, group work, quizzes, etc.)
4. Design for online:

If have already taught this module f2f, how might you modify or
enhance the content delivery, lecture, and student work components
using online environment options?

If this is a new topic, how might you design it to make the best use of
online environments for content, lecture, and student work?
Online Tools and Design Resources
See the companion ELMS site (login to
elms.umd.edu)
See http://otal.umd.edu
(Your Campus Resource for Online Teaching and Learning)
 Supported Tools
 Consultations (Online and Blended Course Design)
 Training
 Materials and Resources
 See Sloan-C workshops (www.training.umd.edu)
 See Creating an Effective Online Syllabus