Faculty focus special report online course design 13 strategies for teaching in a web based distance learning environment

Online Course Design:
13 Strategies for Teaching
in a Web-based Distance
Learning Environment

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A MAGNA PUBLICATION

Online Course Design: 13 Strategies for Teaching in a
Web-based Distance Learning Environment
After years of teaching face to face, many instructors are able to begin teaching a tradi-
tional, classroom-based course without having the entire course laid out ahead of time.
This approach doesn’t work very well in the online classroom where careful planning and
course design is crucial to student success.

Good online course design begins with a clear understanding of specific learning
outcomes and ways to engage students, while creating activities that allow students to
take some control of their learning. It also requires a little extra effort upfront to minimize
two of the most common frustrations of online learning: 1. confusing course organization
(how course elements are structured within the course) and 2. unclear navigation (what
links or buttons are used to access these elements).

When learners can’t find what they need or are confused about where to go and what to
do, it is harder for them to learn. Being an online learner is challenging enough without
these additional barriers. Plus, frustrated learners tend to either drop out or drive the in-
structor crazy – neither of which are the outcomes we want.

This Online Classroom special report is a collection of articles that address many of the
key issues in online course design. Featured articles include:
• Usability Issues that Impact Online Learning
• Subdivided Courses Help Students Learn in Small Increments
• 10 Tips to Extend the Shelf Life of Your Online Course
• Adaptive Hypermedia for Individualized Learning
• Empowering Students to Become Self-Directed, Engaged Learners
• Web-based Video Lecture Courses Meet High Demand, Allow More Learner Control
• A Guide to Creating Modular Courses

Whether you’re an experienced online educator or designer looking for fresh ideas, or
someone who’s just getting started with online classes, this special report gives you
proven strategies that you can use right away.

Rob Kelly
Editor
Online Classroom

2 Online Course Design: 13 Strategies for Teaching in a Web-based Distance Learning Environment • www.FacultyFocus.com

Table of Contents
10 Tips to Extend the Shelf Life of Your Online Course ................................................................................................4

Subdivided Courses Help Students Learn in Small Increments ................................................................................5

Adaptive Hypermedia for Individualized Learning ....................................................................................................7

To Plan Good Instruction, Teach to the Test ..............................................................................................................8

Posting Handouts Online Introduced Instructor to Online Learning Possibilities ....................................................10

Empowering Students to Become Self-Directed, Engaged Learners ........................................................................11

Web-based Video Lecture Courses Meet High Demand, Allow More Learner Control ............................................12

Seminar—A Good First Venture into the Online Classroom ....................................................................................13

A Guide to Creating Modular Courses ....................................................................................................................14

How to Eliminate Sources of Frustration for the Online Learner ............................................................................16

Using Pre-admission Assessments to Help Online Students Succeed ......................................................................17

Usability Issues That Impact Online Learning ........................................................................................................19

The Importance of Intuitive Navigation in Online Course Design ............................................................................20

Online Course Design: 13 Strategies for Teaching in a Web-based Distance Learning Environment • www.FacultyFocus.com 3

Problem 3: A learning object
10 Tips to Extend the Shelf Life becomes obsolete.
Learning objects can take a lot of

of Your Online Course time to create. Before developing an
original learning object, you should
be relatively certain that it is
reusable. For instance, an interactive
exercise demonstrating the
By Darren Crone Pythagorean Theorem is likely to be
usable for years to come as the
concept does not change, while an
uilding your online course took stantly implement a new edition, a interactive world map with detailed

B a tremendous amount of time
and effort. You created a
syllabus, selected a textbook, wrote
custom textbook may be created.
Several companies are offering this
service, in which the instructor deter-
information on all countries may
become dated shortly after comple-
tion. Also, there are a growing
learning objectives, recorded lectures, mines the content by integrating number of repositories that offer low-
developed learning objects, designed sections of existing textbooks, cost or free learning objects for
course activities, and carefully articles, and even original material. educators.
planned out your assignments. Once This custom textbook is then given a
your course was complete, you unique ISBN and may be used as Problem 4: Your course
couldn’t help but feel a sense of long as desired. Other advantages material is no longer
pride. This magnum opus of binary include lower cost and the availabil- correct/relevant.
code was built to stand the test of ity of an electronic version for By judiciously selecting the
time and be offered ad infinitum/ad students. medium for getting the information
nauseam … right? More than likely to your students, considerable trouble
the answer is no. Without proper Problem 2: A course is built can be avoided. Instead of creating a
planning and design, a large portion using a publisher’s content multimedia lecture that touches on
of your course may have to be rede- and you change textbooks. every detail of a topic, try sticking to
veloped for the next offering. If Many textbooks come complete the higher-level concepts. This way if
planned and designed properly, with online course content. With a something minor changes, the entire
however, an online course can be few clicks of a mouse, an empty shell lecture does not have to be redone.
offered relatively intact from semester in Blackboard can be transformed The details that may be more prone
to semester. As with traditional into a dynamic interactive learning to changing can be addressed in a
courses, online courses will need a environment to accompany your more dynamic forum, such as on a
change here and a tweak there, but book. Students can access videos, discussion board, via a Web confer-
major reconstruction can be largely online lectures, practice quizzes, and ence, or in a chat session.
avoided. This article will present 10 more. The only drawback is that
common online course design pitfalls when you change books, you must Problem 5: The publisher
(each experienced by yours truly) also stop using the content. A way to updates the textbook,
and discuss solutions to assist in- bypass this is to avoid taking the easy changing the order of
structional designers and instructors path; create your own course content. chapters. The course, which
in building a lower-maintenance There are several low-cost and free was based on the order of the
course. programs out there to help you ac- textbook, is now out of
complish this. While it will be con- sequence.
Problem 1: The publisher short- siderably more work up front creating During the design of the course,
cycled your textbook. your own lectures, acquiring determine the order in which you
There was once a time when you copyright permission for multimedia want the material to be presented.
could count on a textbook edition to materials, and building your own There is no law against presenting
remain current for at least several self-quizzes, the extra effort will pay Chapter 9 before Chapter 1. Instead
years. Now, it is not unusual for dividends in the long run. of organizing a course by the
“new” editions to come out every 24 chapters of a textbook, consider
months. To avoid having to con-
PAGE 5


FROM PAGE 4 structors and teaching assistants in this is a painful and laborious
the course. Isolating information that process. To avoid having to recon-
breaking it into modules based on is likely to change makes it much struct your course file by file,
topics. This way if the publisher pulls easier to keep track of. For informa- consider developing your course as a
the old switcheroo, all you need to do tion that will be included in multiple package file. To do this you should
is change the reading assignments in courses, such as software require- create an HTML page linking all
your syllabus (as opposed to reorgan- ments, consider creating a Web page course materials inside a folder. The
izing your entire course). It should be and adding a link to it in each folder can then be zipped, uploaded,
noted that if you are using a custom course’s syllabus. and unzipped into any LMS.
textbook, this is a nonissue.
Problem 8: You have broken Problem 10: Academic integrity
Problem 6: Your textbook was hyperlinks. issues prompt the creation of
updated, and page numbers/ There is a tremendous amount of new tests.
figures referenced in course useful information on the Web, but Instead of creating a single test for
materials do not match up with you are taking a risk when linking to all students to take, consider using a
the textbook. any site outside your course. The large test bank. Test settings can be
It is recommended that specific possibility exists that the information adjusted so each student receives a
page numbers and figures not be ref- will be moved or deleted. Whenever different test with all questions and
erenced in course materials that are possible, keep your course materials answers randomized.
expected to be reused. Try creating (videos, case studies, self-assess- This article reviewed some
your own examples, or if a specific ments, etc.) inside your course man- common issues that are encountered
page/figure must be referenced, agement system. When you must link in online course development.
consider doing this on the discussion to an external page, consider Developing an online course is a lot
board. providing the link on the discussion of work. A little preplanning will help
board. to ensure that you don’t have to start
Problem 7: Your contact from scratch each time the course is
information or course software Problem 9: Your academic offered. @
requirements are out of date. institution has upgraded/
There are some things that will changed its learning
always change. Consider using your management system (LMS).
syllabus to communicate your office When switching to a new LMS,
hours and contact information for in- courses must be moved. Many times

Subdivided Courses Help Students Learn
in Small Increments
By Rob Kelly

any online learners do not Development at the University of “When teaching online, we are no

M have large, uninterrupted
blocks of time to dedicate to
their coursework, which is why
Arkansas for Medical Sciences, rec-
ommends that instructors subdivide
their courses into manageable
longer dealing with students who are
surrounded by other students who
are thinking about the same thing at
Robin Smith, senior WebCT certified segments so that students can the same time in a protected, one-
trainer and Web-based learning coor- complete small learning activities in
PAGE 6
dinator in the Office of Educational their spare moments.


FROM PAGE 5 were still not finished!”
Also, when designing a course, Suggestions for chunking:
hour environment dedicated to a remember that it may take students • Find the natural break points
subject. Now students are sur- more time to complete a chunk than in presentations and create
rounded by all these interruptions the actual time of the presentation transition slides.
that don’t have anything to do with because they may pause a presenta- • Create an active-learning
[the course]. We all have lots of tion to take notes or replay a certain activity based on the concept
things competing for our attention. If section. In one of her colleague’s introduced in the each chunk.
we provide students with short courses, it takes student three times • Indicate the amount of time it
segments that can be reinforced longer to complete a chunk than is will take for students to go
quickly, then the students know they listed on the presentation, so it would through each chunk.
can go online, grasp something from help students to let them know that • Record narration per individ-
a 10- or 15-minute segment and move the time each of them will need to ual slide to enable students to
on so that they can fit learning into complete the chunk may be signifi- skip or review individual
their everyday lives,” Smith says. cantly more than the presentation slides.
Smith recommends a model that time would indicate.
features a passive-learning segment By recording the audio individually Benefits of chunking include:
(perhaps a brief narrated PowerPoint for each slide, students are able to • Students log in more
presentation) followed by a related review the presentations as often as frequently.
active-learning exercise that rein- needed and even skip slides that • It helps establish a pattern to
forces the concept, such as a self test, address concepts they are familiar the course.
review questions, or short quiz. By with as their studying progresses. • Allows students to find the
offering a small standalone chunk of “Sometimes when we record time to fit the learning into
learning in this manner, students narration we suddenly become more their busy schedules.
become accustomed to the pattern of formal and less natural about the ebb • The course is easier to update.
alternating passive and active and flow of a normal lecture, this
learning and are likely to log in more chunking helps return those natural
frequently because they don’t need to to a brief presentation than having to
breaks to the presentations. I think
commit a substantial amount of time redo a longer one, Smith says.
the easiest thing to do is have the
in a single session. Students can When dividing courses into chunks
presentation and then come back and
process this concept while they are it’s important that students are
create those transitions because
going about other activities of their reminded about how each chunk
sometimes it’s difficult for people to
day and later come back for another relates to the overall course goals.
envision the chunks,” Smith says.
learning concept. And, Smith says, Smith accomplishes this by including
In helping instructors identify these
when students log in more fre- transition slides at the beginning and
chunks as natural places to break,
quently, they are also more like to end of each chunk that explain where
Smith asks them to consider the tran-
participate in threaded discussions, the previous chunk left off and what
sitions they automatically insert into
which helps build the learning the current chunk will cover.
their face-to-face lectures, such as
community. Not all students learn best in short
when one asks students questions or
Part of establishing the design sessions. For those who prefer to take
explains a point and announces that
pattern is informing students how in longer presentations, Smith recom-
the class will now move on to the
long it will take them to complete mends that instructors either provide
next point.
each chunk of the course, which can their presentations in two formats,
The way in which an instructor
be important for students with busy one consisting of small chunks and
subdivides his or her lecture depends
schedules. Noting the time of the one that includes the entire presenta-
on the content. If it’s a history
narration to the side of each presen- tion in one file. If creating two
lecture, it can be subdivided chrono-
tation is easy to do and very helpful formats is too much work, you can
logically or by event. A lecture in an
for the students. Smith says, “You remind students that they can view
English course might be divided
understand the importance of this if several presentations sequentially in
according to parts of speech.
you’ve ever been “held hostage” by a one session. @
In addition, when a presentation
video presentation or a tutorial you needs to be updated, an instructor
expected to be able to complete in 30 will be more likely to make changes
minutes and 40-45 minutes later you


went through the entire cycle sequen-

Adaptive Hypermedia for tially and an adaptive group did not.
“We were constantly looking at what

Individualized Learning these students were doing and how
well they were doing and basically
trying to give them more of what
may help them do better and less of
what will get in the way of learning,”
By Rob Kelly says Michael Danchak, professor of
computer science at RPI. “We found
the exact same performance in both
he online learning environ- • Experiment—has students take groups, but the adaptive group did it

T ment offers great potential for
individualized learning. One
way to achieve this is through
the information they have
learned and manipulate it to
better understand how the
in a much shorter period of time.
Cautiously we’re inferring that [indi-
vidualization] is more efficient in that
maybe we’re giving them what they
adaptive hypermedia—using learner concept works.
use patterns to adapt course presen- • Apply—has students apply the need to be successful in a shorter
tation, navigation, and content to suit learning to new situations. period of time rather than looking at
individual students’ needs and prefer- perhaps a lot of irrelevant or extrane-
ences. Using this model to design courses ous things.”
Researchers at Rensselaer gives students different ways to look The researchers tracked student use
Polytechnic Institute have begun at the content. “I think a lot of times patterns themselves, which was a
looking into ways to use adaptive hy- when instructors are faced with very time-consuming process.
permedia to individualize courses. However, like many interactive
They developed a course model, websites (e.g., Amazon.com), there is
known as OctoPlus, which consists of the possibility of creating authoring
the following eight instructional
“We found the exact same tools that enable courses to respond
events, each representing a different to an individual’s preferences and
performance in both groups, performance. Making these tools in-
instructional method and each linked
teroperable among different systems
to a separate Web page: but the adaptive group did it in
• Connect—engages students’ is another issue. (Can these tools be
prior knowledge of the content a much shorter period of time.” shared among instructors to cut
and helps the instructor gauge down on work while maintaining the
how much students know about Michael Danchak individual instructors’ imprints on
the content. This can include a course design?)
video or simulation. This would be more effective than
• Reflect—has students externalize putting their courses online, there basing individualization on learning
their thoughts on their experi- aren’t a lot of guides for them other style preferences, because learners
ences through a discussion than just transferring their lectures are not always accurate in identifying
board, e-mail, or response to a into a text-based format,” says Linda their learning style preferences and
quizlike question. Polhemus, project manager. “[This because learning style preferences
• Share—enables students to share model] really sets up a structure for can changes over time, Danchak says.
their experiences with the whole an instructor to go through in Alessandro Assis, a graduate
class, perhaps through a creating an experience that will get student who worked on this study,
multiple-choice or short-answer [students] engaged in the learning points out that adapting modules to
question. objective that is to be reached the students improved efficiency, and
• Learn—presents the content. through the entire cycle.” that the next step will be to demon-
• Practice—provides learners with In a series of experiments, the re- strate whether it can improve
exercises that reinforce the activi- searchers created modules that used learning effectiveness. @
ties in the “learn” section. the OctoPlus design and allowed the
• Personalize—asks students to navigation, presentation, and content
reflect on what they have to be adapted.
learned. In one experiment, a control group


ate methods of assessment are

To Plan Good Instruction, generally quite clear.
See TABLE 1 on the next page to

Teach to the Test how the appropriate assessment
matches the learning objective? If you
design assessments as an afterthought
at the end of designing the instruction
(a common but unfortunate mistake),
By Patti Shank, PhD, CPT you are likely to design the wrong
content and the course activities and
the assessments are likely to be far
less meaningful or appropriate. In
uilding effective instruction Here is a list of typical instructional

B involves multiple tasks, but
planning is one of the most
critical. For online courses, planning
planning tasks, in order:
1.Identify learning objectives
2.Design assessments
other words, designing the assess-
ment (test) right after identifying the
learning objectives 1) makes the
needed assessment very obvious and
is especially important because even 3.Design content and activities
2) provides clear cues about what
under the best of circumstances, 4.Select media and delivery options
content and activities are needed.
online learners often struggle with un- 5.Develop the course materials
derstanding what’s expected of them; 6.Implement the course
at a distance, they can get unbeliev- 7.Evaluate and revise
Design content and activities
ably frustrated (or worse) and stop
after designing assessments
I’ve finally made my way to telling
trying. That’s one of the best reasons If you have worked with instruc-
you to design to the test. First identify
for using a systematic approach to tional designers or read articles or
the learning objectives and matching
planning your instruction. One of the books on instructional design, you
assessment (test). The learning objec-
best planning strategies for good in- may be familiar with the ADDIE
tives should clearly state what the
struction is teaching to the test. You model, one of the most common
learner should be able to do, and the
likely have heard the words “teaching models for the systematic design of
assessment (test) should measure if
to the test” uttered contemptuously. instruction. ADDIE is an acronym for
they can, in fact, do that. The content
But it can be a very good thing Analysis, Design, Development,
and activities should then be designed
indeed. I’m going to take a bit of a Implementation, and Evaluation.
specifically so that the learner can
circuitous route in explaining why so Following a systematic process such
pass the test, because that means they
you can understand my logic. as ADDIE can help prevent some of
have met the learning objectives. And
I’m a big believer in writing good the typical problems that happen
that’s the goal of effective instruction.
learning objectives and good assess- when instruction isn’t well planned,
Let’s look at TABLE 2 on the next
ments. Objectives are the cornerstone including instruction that doesn’t
page, once again at the three objec-
for planning effective instruction, and seem to have a clear goal; quirky (not
tives and matching assessments to see
good assessments determine if the ob- in a good way) or deficient course
what content and activities make
jectives have been met. You might content, activities, and assessments;
sense.
consider these the “bookends” of and poor evaluations for the course
As you can see, a well-written
planning effective instruction. and instructor.
objective and matching assessment
Notice that identifying learning ob-
provide pretty clear cues about what
ADDIE who? jectives is first on the list of tasks.
content and activities are needed. It
Instructional designers (people who And designing assessments is next,
makes the instruction not only more
typically have specialized training in for good reason.
effective, but also easier to design.
using cognitive and other principles to
Better instruction and less work.
design effective instruction) call the Design assessments after Terrific!
practice of systematically planning in- identifying learning objectives
struction “instructional design.” There Designing assessments should
are numerous philosophies of instruc- optimally occur right after identifying
A few more words about
tional design but all have certain learning objectives. That’s because as-
activities
Some people ask me whether
things in common, including sessments should measure if the ob-
content plus assessments is enough
following a list of tasks that ensure jectives were met. If the learning
better end results. objectives are well written, appropri- PAGE 9
8 Online Course Design: 13 Strategies for Teaching in a Web-based Distance Learning

FROM PAGE 8

for a good online course—for
example, PowerPoint slides and tests.
Aside from the fact that this would be
unengaging for learners, this
approach is not instruction. Activities
and feedback are needed for instruc-
tion. In fact, I’d go so far as to say
that the purpose of instructional
content is to support instructional ac-
tivities. Activities allow learners to
reflect on and apply the content and
make it personally meaningful. When
we don’t do this, we’re likely
teaching at only a surface level,
preparing learners to do nothing with
the content other than forget about it
once the test is over. Strong enough
words?

Your turn
If activities are the opportunities
for learners reflect on and apply the
content so that it becomes meaning-
ful to them, now would be a good
time for you to do that with the
content in this article! See if you can
write two good learning objectives
and then match assessments and
content and activities. Try swapping
your work with someone else
(another faculty member or maybe
even an instructional designer) to get
feedback.
Some people think it’s hard or even
impossible to create meaningful
online activities, but that’s not so. In
fact, an asynchronous online learning
environment provides opportunities
for activities that would be hard to do
in person.

References
Shank, P. (2006.) Developing
Learning Assessments for Classroom,
Online, and Blended Learning.
Workshop Materials. Centennial, CO:
Learning Peaks.
Smith, P.L., & Ragan, T.J. (2005).
Instructional Design, 3e. San
Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. @


• Grades

Posting Handouts Online • Textbook website— “It’s important
to have a great textbook, but it’s
also important that the textbook
Introduced Instructor to Online has a great website,” Rambo says.
• Quizzes and exams
Learning Possibilities Unexpected benefit
As Rambo taught her online course,
she began offering the same online
By Rob Kelly resources to her face-to-face students.
“I didn’t require them to take tests
online, but they had everything I had—
PowerPoint, the textbook website,
ike many instructors who venture they love being in charge of their

L
practice tests—and they could do
into the online classroom, Brenda learning, doing it when they have time everything an online student could do,
Rambo, assistant professor of to do it,” Rambo says. but they had to come to class,” Rambo
psychology at Middle Tennessee State In addition to flexibility, the design says.
University, began gradually by of Rambo’s courses provides students When they have access to the online
enhancing her courses with Web with an active learning experience. materials, students tend to come to
content. Her initial motivation was to Rambo uses WebCT, but her design class more prepared. “They would hold
provide her students with online goes beyond the basic layout, which up their hands and say, ‘Doctor
handouts, which would eliminate the makes the courses more user friendly Rambo, we don’t want to hear this
hassle and expense of making photo- than they would be otherwise. She because we’ve already done all this.
copies. From this simple beginning, divides each course into the following Let’s talk about life. Let’s talk about
she has progressed to offering user- sections: life applications of the concepts in the
friendly fully online and hybrid courses • Course content and related book.’ It changed everything I did that
that have changed the way she teaches materials—This section includes semester because they came to class so
and the way her students learn. the syllabus, calendar pop ups, prepared and wanted new informa-
“I decided to build basic websites for reading schedule, meeting tion,” Rambo says.
all my courses to stop the handouts schedule (for hybrid courses), chat Based on the success in her Web-
and to provide the syllabus and group assignments, and case enhanced undergraduate course,
reading schedules. The more I did that, studies. Rambo has incorporated online
the more I was intrigued by how much • Communication tools—This learning into a graduate-level
it benefited the students and how section includes links to e-mail, prepracticum course. That class meets
much more of the learning process discussion boards, and chat rooms. every other week, and during the
they could be in control of,” Rambo • Study tools—This section includes weeks the class does not meet,
says. study sheets that help students students participate in threaded discus-
The department had few online prepare for exams and other tools sions.
courses available to undergraduates, so that Rambo has designed to help By moving discussions online,
Rambo decided to create an online students study. Rambo has been able to concentrate on
version of developmental psychology, a • Assignments—This section lists all developing students’ counseling skills.
required course for psychology majors. the assignments with links to as- “Because we have had such intense
The course proved to be very popular. signment requirements, instruc- personal discussions about all the
What’s the reason for the popularity tions, rubrics, and any forms course contents online, when we go to
of the course? “Most students work 25 needed to do the assignment. class I can demonstrate everything
to 35 hours a week. Many work full- • Handouts and forms—This section from the book. Before, all I had time to
time jobs and take full loads. A lot of includes all handouts and forms do was lecture on the content of the
students also have families, so coming related to the course. book. I didn’t have time to demon-
to class is a big inconvenience. They • Class notes—In this section, strate. Now I have time to do face-to-
may be very motivated learners, but Rambo provides course content in face counseling for three- to
they need to do it when they can do it. several formats, including lecture five-minute segments with every
I have found that most of my students notes, PowerPoint presentations, student and debrief what happened.”
who take my online courses say that and outlines. @

gain confidence with themselves and

Empowering Students to the pedagogy,” Hricko says.

Become Self-Directed, In addition, students can add
different perspectives to the course.
“A lot of times the students see the
Engaged Learners content from a perspective that an in-
structor would not, and may offer
new insights into the content that the
instructor did not consider. I fervently
By Rob Kelly believe that we can learn a great deal
from many of our students. It’s
important that we show value in their
perspectives and by allowing them
ourse design is crucial to can extend beyond embedded links.

C student success. It should
reflect the intended learning
outcomes and provide enough
Hricko recommends creating activi-
ties that allow students to take some
control of their learning. This could
the opportunity to contribute to that
body of knowledge, I believe that it
demonstrates to students that we are
genuinely interested in what they are
guidance for students to easily include having students:
thinking about,” Hricko says.
navigate the course without being • add content to the course
Despite the fact that many
overly rigid so as to stifle the ex- website,
students, particularly millennial, are
ploratory aspects of learning, says • take turns creating course
used to interacting via technology,
Mary Hricko, library director and lectures,
they are generally not very well
associate professor of library and • submit Web links related to the
prepared for online education that
media services at Kent State course material and explain their
puts the learner in control of much of
University Geauga Campus and relevance,
their learning. “I think it’s a bad as-
Twinsburg Center. • add questions to a test bank,
sumption that because students are
Good course design begins with a • take pre- and post-module assess-
millennial learners that they have an
clear understanding of specific ments to determine whether they
understanding of how to manipulate
learning outcomes and ways to have mastered the learning in
technology to learn. Social technolo-
engage students. “Simply putting that module,
gies are different than educational
content on the Web is not instruc- • moderate online discussions,
technologies. Sure, they can
tion,” Hricko says. “I’ve seen instruc- • fill in the blank slides to an in-
multitask, but when it comes to un-
tors put their post their lecture and complete PowerPoint presenta-
derstanding some of the ways in
text on the course site for student to tion or lecture outline in
which the expectations of learning
read, but what they really need to do preparation for a lecture,
and contributing we still have to
is think about interactivity.” • monitor several blogs and use
address those basic skills—research
For example, rather than posting a material from those blogs to
ethics, how to present information,
linear lecture, an instructor might generate discussion, and
and how to use technology appropri-
consider including embedded links to • create their own blogs on a topic
ately. We need to make certain that
give students the opportunities to related to the course.
students understand the different
explore certain topics more deeply if
tools in the online environment and
they choose to. “There should be “If our goal is to generate thinkers
what is expected [of] them in online
some areas of the site that the and individuals who assimilate
discussions and completing assign-
students can [manipulate] for knowledge, then we have to involve
ments,” Hricko says.
improving their retention of the in- them in activities that give them the
Course design can help students
struction,” Hricko says. “Sometimes freedom to do that. Simply feeding
embrace this new way of learning.
students have to manipulate informa- them the information does not really
Most institutions have online
tion so they can learn it better. There facilitate their abilities to learn those
resources, such as a technology help
should be some facets of the site that skills. That’s not teaching. That’s not
desk and an online library, to help
allow them to do that.” empowering our students. When
students. However, it is up to the
Depending on the intended students are given the opportunity to
learning outcomes, this interactivity participate in the instruction, they PAGE 12


FROM PAGE 11 away some of the questions that you freshmen orientation.
as the instructor might not want to Hricko also recommends that in-
course designer to help make these always deal with. When students see structors provide students with orien-
resources easy to access. “All [course] what’s available to them, they will tation packets for their courses—to
sites should have access to the virtual make use of it.” explain the parameters of their
library,” Hricko says. “Likewise, if In addition to designing courses courses and how to use the technol-
students are required to turn in with links to these resources, Hricko ogy—and should give those packets
papers online, [the course site] says that institutions should do a to academic advisors and librarians
should have a link to the online better job of preparing students for as well so that they can better serve
writing lab. When you’re [designing] the online classroom before they the students. @
your course, you should have these enroll in an online course by incorpo-
resources linked to the course to take rating online learning workshops into

Web-based Video Lecture Courses Meet High
Demand, Allow More Learner Control
By Rob Kelly

n an effort to accommodate in- the WebOption program. “In fact, by camera and introduce themselves. “I

I creasing student enrollment
without having to expand its
physical campus, the University of
the middle of the course, two-thirds of
the students were not coming to
class.”
see that as a way of symbolically
having the [face-to-face] students
stand in for the other students. They
Ontario at Scarborough has begun say things. They have personalities.
offering some of its high-enrollment, WebOption course design And the class appreciates it. That’s the
lecture-based courses via Web- The University of Toronto at kind of interactivity I encourage
delivered video lectures. Scarborough currently offers 13 high- because it works online as well as in a
This approach, known as enrollment WebOption courses. All of 500-person theater,” Bassili says.
WebOption, began in 2003, to accom- them use lectures that are videotaped Bassili uses PowerPoint and video
modate the increased enrollments that and made available online as clips in his face-to-face lectures.
resulted from the elimination of the streaming video within hours of the Students who view his lectures online
fifth year of high school in the actual lectures. These videos are get the same experience, but this
province of Ontario. available for one week to all students requires some post production. Most
That summer, the psychology de- enrolled in the course, regardless of of Bassili’s lectures have two or three
partment offered its usual three section. short video clips that he uploads to his
sections of face-to-face introduction to “The streaming video you get online PowerPoint presentation. To give the
psychology and an additional online is very much like what happens in a WebOption students the same experi-
section that used Web-delivered video big lecture hall,” Bassili says. ence as the live lecture, Bassili inserts
recordings of the face-to-face lectures. Student assistants videotape the these video clips in his online lectures.
From the beginning, students had the face-to-face lectures. Other than He incorporates compressed video into
option to attend class in person or ensuring that the microphones in the his PowerPoint presentations for the
view the same recorded lectures classroom pick up any interaction live lectures, but he inserts uncom-
online. “These students showed an between the instructor and the pressed video clips into his Web
immediate appetite for online lectures students, teaching a WebOption course lectures so that the clips are not com-
and vacated seats in huge propor- is no different than teaching a typical pressed twice (which would reduce
tions,” says John Bassili, professor of course in a large lecture hall. Bassili the quality of the video).
psychology and dean’s designate for asks that students look into the
PAGE 13
12 Online Course Design: 13 Strategies for Teaching in a Web-based Distance Learning

FROM PAGE 12 Bassili has conducted several rewind, and watch the lecture
studies on the WebOption program. multiple times.
Bassili’s lectures are videotaped The following are some of his • Harder courses are more popular
using mini DV videotapes that are findings: online because of the advantage
uploaded into Adobe Premier for • Of students, 80 percent are of being able to view the lectures
basic editing (to insert titles at the “extremely happy” to have the multiple times.
beginning and at the end, and to option of accessing the lectures • There is no significant difference
insert video clips from other online. in learning outcomes between
sources). • Neuroticism—fear of missing the face-to-face and Web-based
Since students have the option of something—is the main reason formats.
attending live lectures or viewing why students attend live lectures
them online, the lines between the as opposed to viewing them The WebOption approach is
various sections are blurred. These online. generally limited to multiple-section,
are not distance students. They all • Those who view the lectures high-demand, lecture-based courses.
come to on-campus office hours and online are more secure and don’t “Any time there are frustrated
take exams on campus. These mind learning independently. students who are unable to get the
courses also include an online forum • Students who view the lectures classes they want because they’re
with all sections, and unless a online tend to be more open to full, in my opinion, there should be a
student mentions it, nobody knows novelty. WebOption to accommodate
whether he or she attends the live • Students who like to use students,” Bassili says.
lectures or views them online. rehearsal as a learning strategy
tend to prefer to view the lectures For more information, visit
Student opinions/outcomes online, where they can pause, www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~joordens/

Seminar—A Good First Venture into
the Online Classroom
By Rob Kelly

ike many instructors, Linda and seminar for early childhood Appearance
L Romero, assistant professor of
education at MassBay
Community College, had some reser-
education. In this course, students
teach 12 hours per week and receive
three supervisory visits during the
Romero was deliberate in making
her online course “real” without being
too complicated. She created a look to
vations about teaching online. Would semester. the course that matched the physical
her students be able to use the online In the face-to-face version of the appearance of the education environ-
learning tools? Would students seminar, students meet for a couple of ments her students work in. The first
become engaged in each other’s hours each week for mini-lectures and thing they see when they enter the
progress? Would a lack of face-to-face discussions; Romero designed the course site is a red schoolhouse with
interaction hinder learning? online course to be conducted a flag waving and a bell ringing.
Realizing the benefits that an online similarly. By the time they take the In addition to creating a familiar
course offers students, particularly the seminar, “students have taken most of look, Romero designed her course so
ability to fit the course into their busy their content courses already, so I that each week’s materials have a
schedules, Romero decided to make don’t have to provide a huge amount consistent font and color. “This
the leap, but only with a course that of content. It’s just helping them provides a visual link that brings
offered some individual face-to-face bring it all together,” Romero says.
contact with students—a practicum PAGE 14


FROM PAGE 13 common experiences is easy. Doing it of spontaneity. On the other hand,
in other types of courses is possible Romero finds that she is more disci-
things…together. It takes a little extra with a little creativity. For example, a plined and less inclined to go off on
time, but students notice it and they colleague of Romero’s was teaching a tangents when she is online than
[know] where they are when they’re course to a group of diverse, geo- when in the face-to-face classroom.
entering different parts of the graphically dispersed students. In the excitement of that engage-
course,” Romero says. Romero suggested having them each ment in the classroom, you can get
take a field trip to a similar place—in carried away. I’m more responsible
Discussion this case a library. Each would go to about that when I’m online, Romero
Contrary to the students’ fears, they a different library but all would be says.
had more discussion in the online able to bring that similar experience Romero uses the design of the
course than students in the face-to- back to the class and discuss the dif- course to set the tone as well. For
face classroom did. Romero credits ferences and commonalities. example, initially, students often get
this largely to the introductions in the “I think you can create something lost in the online space, and she tries
threaded discussion, which artificial to achieve that common ex- to make sure that doesn’t happen by
emphasize the students’ common perience, even if it’s not a common leaving messages for them in the
experiences. practicum experience,” Romero says. places they might look, reminding
In the threaded-discussion intro- them where to go.
ductions, Romero asks students to Tone In some instances, Romero includes
talk about their teaching goals, their One of the limitations of interacting an animated cheerleader in the site to
practicum classrooms, and personal in threaded discussions is the indicate that students have found
information (if they are willing). potential of misinterpreting inten- what they were looking for. “You
“I think having shared experiences tions. If you say something sarcastic establish tone through those kinds of
is really the key to successful online in a face-to-face class, students will messages that are actually part of the
teaching. Anything you do, any as- likely understand your intention. design of the physical environment,”
signment that gets people out doing Romero is careful to guard against Romero says. @
something…establishes that common posting things that might be misinter-
connection,” Romero says. preted. The downside to this is a lack
In her course, finding these

A Guide to Creating Modular Courses
By Rob Kelly

ndrea Henne, dean of online • Expedited course creation— and you’ve decided how students

A and distributed learning in the
San Diego Community College
District, recommends creating online
Often, the task of creating an
online course is daunting for the
faculty member. Focusing on the
are going to interact with the
material and what they’re going
to turn in and how you’re going
courses composed of modules— components that go into a single to do pre-assessment and post-as-
discrete, self-contained learning expe- module at a time simplifies the sessment, the course design
riences—and uses a course process, enabling instructors to process is well on its way. All
development method that specifies more thoughtfully design each you’re doing now is the creative
what to include in each module. learning component. After an in- work of finding the resources,
Creating online courses based on structor has created that first content, and activities that fit the
modules can benefit the instructor module, he or she has estab- learning objectives,” Henne says.
and students. Modular design offers lished a framework for creating In addition, by working on one
the following benefits: subsequent modules. “Once
you’re happy with the structure PAGE 15


FROM PAGE 14 want to box people in to a one- quiz questions) as the pre-assess-
size-fits-all formula because you ment to measure student
module at a time, instructors can want them to be creative and in- progress.
more easily see how each activity novative,” Henne says.
relates to the course syllabus and Henne encourages instructors to
desired learning outcomes. The following are the components include assessments in each module
• Simplified course updates— Henne recommends for each module: to be able to monitor student
Modular design enables instruc- • Pre-assessment: Each module progress throughout the course and
tors to target specific parts of the should include an activity that to provide students with regular
course for improvement without determines students’ initial feedback.
having to overhaul the entire knowledge of a topic before Many course management systems
course. Because each module is a taking part in the learning activi- have a selective-release feature,
standalone learning experience ties within the module. The which enables the instructor to
based on specific learning objec- results of this activity can be control access to parts of a course
tives, when a publisher updates compared to assessment results until a student has reached a certain
or discontinues a textbook, it at the end of the module to level of competency. Achievement on
doesn’t necessarily mean that the measure achievement of learning a module can be determined by
entire course needs to be outcomes. comparing the pre- and post-assess-
changed. With a modular course, • Learning objectives: These are ments or by the students submitting
textbook changes might mean specific statements, including the a checklist of tasks completed.
simply changing the page actions, performance criteria, and After years of teaching face to face,
numbers of assigned readings or conditions of what students will many instructors are able to begin
reordering the modules to match be able to do upon completing teaching an on ground course
the new sequence of the textbook the module. without having the entire course laid
chapters. In addition, modules • Assigned reading: Specify out ahead of time. This approach
are portable. They can be easily chapters, pages, documents, doesn’t work well in the online
removed for use in other courses slides, lecture notes and provide classroom. Henne recommends that
or course management systems, guided reading suggestions or instructors have their online courses
Henne says. points for students to look out for completely created several months
• Consistency for users—By incor- in the reading. before students enroll in them, and
porating the same types of com- • Assigned writing: Writing as- the template she recommends can
ponents in each course module, signments can range from posts help them meet that target, allowing
students quickly pick up on the to the discussion board to formal them the time to focus on other
course’s rhythms and patterns papers. Each assignment should aspects of facilitating online classes.
and have a better idea of what to have a clear explanation of ex- “Faculty have been really grateful
expect than if the course were pectations and evaluation to see an overview of how to start,
designed using a varying criteria. how they’re going to proceed, and
structure. “Often online students • Exercises/activities: Each how they’re going to end the course.
get a little bit lost, and they don’t module should have an interac- Although the template is not
understand what they’re tive activity for the entire class or designed as a lock-step process, it
expected to do. But if the course for groups, which encourages does provide a framework that
follows a format that’s recogniza- critical thinking and practical ap- supports the faculty member during
ble and comfortable, then the plication of the material covered online course design and develop-
second week and subsequent in the learning module. ment. All this goes hand in hand
weeks are consistent,” Henne • For further study: Take with faculty training on strategies for
says. advantage of the rich resources teaching online. This template is the
Henne uses a template or on the Internet and provided by foundation for effective online
“modular matrix” that outlines publisher websites to enhance learning by guiding how you’re going
the components for each learning learning and stimulate students’ to present your materials and how
module. The template is not a curiosity to dig deeper into the students are going to interact and
cookie-cutter approach to online subject matter. achieve the desired learning
course design but rather a set of • Post-assessment: The end-of- outcomes,” Henne says. @
recommendations that instructors module assessment should be in
might find useful. “You don’t the same format (e.g., essay or

difficulty accessing or using the

How to Eliminate Sources of course materials and lack of engage-
ment or effort (for example, limited

Frustration for the Online log-ins, few discussion postings, late
or inadequately completed assign-
ments). Complaints often help
Learner uncover unnecessary frustrations.
Lack of engagement or effort can be
caused by myriad ‘outside’ issues
(such as family or work problems)
By Patti Shank, PhD, CPT but they can also indicate learners
who have shut down from
frustration.
The first semester I was an online
earning online can be frustrat- They typically don’t have the luxury

L ing. Online tools and technolo-
gies have a learning curve. It’s
easy to feel lost and disconnected.
of immediately going elsewhere, and
unnecessary frustration is very hard
to deal with while also trying to learn
instructor, one learner waited three
weeks into the semester to ask me
how to find the course discussions I
kept referring to. Huh? I could have
Answers to questions are typically and fulfill course requirements. written this off as a bizarre occur-
delayed. Because the online learning Along with usability problems, ex- rence but thankfully I didn’t because
experience is, by its nature, traneous cognitive load and unneces- I received a similar email the week
somewhat frustrating, we need to sary mental effort needed to deal before. With the learner on the
take as much unnecessary frustration with the learning environment can phone, I followed what she was
out of the experience as we can. cause unnecessary frustrations for looking at and realized that the link
Why? Because this kind of frustration online learners. When the mental to course discussions might not be
often leads to reduced satisfaction effort needed for dealing with unnec- obvious to new online learners
and learning, and increased attrition. essary frustration rises, the amount because I referred to them as course
These less-than-optimal outcomes left for learning tasks is reduced. discussions throughout the course
aren’t in anyone’s best interest. For example, imagine reading content but the course management
In this article, I will discuss online course content about stratified system referred to them as discussion
common but unnecessary frustrations random sampling (a statistical forums. That was enough to trip up
for online learners—and how they sampling method). The content some new online learners. I changed
can be reduced or eliminated. contains links to other pages with the content so the term used was the
graphical representations of the same.
Typical sources of topics being covered. Needing to flip The first step to reducing unneces-
unnecessary frustration back and forth between graphic and sary frustrations is to be open to the
Steve Krug, in his excellent Web text explanations requires much more fact that they are likely to be there.
usability primer, Don’t Make Me mental effort than if the graphics and The table below describes some
Think, describes typical website frus- corresponding explanation are placed general ways to address and prevent
trations and explains that it’s not together. them.
“rocket surgery” to make them less Here’s the bottom line: If learners
frustrating. Folks who sell online can’t easily find what they need, Clue: Complaints about difficulty
(such as Amazon.com and what they need isn’t available (even accessing or using the course
SmartBargains.com, my two favorite though you know where it is). If materials
online shopping sites) clearly learners are frustrated and cannot Things to do:
recognize the importance of usability easily use and learn from the course • Clearly explain how learners
because usability directly impacts materials, the materials are ineffec- should get started and make this
sales. Frustrated folks simply don’t tive or worse. information easy to use (a
stick around long enough to buy. Too checklist is good) and easily
hard to use? One or two clicks and Follow the clues noticed.
they can land on another site that is How do we know if learners are • Make commonly used items (like
easier to use. unnecessarily frustrated? There are
But what about online learners? two typical clues: Complaints about PAGE 17


FROM PAGE 16 • Keep an ongoing list of changes the syllabus, determine what assign-
that need to be made in the ments are due in the first week, post
the syllabus and assignment di- future so these problems don’t a bio in the discussion forum) while
rections and rubrics) very easy to reoccur. you watch but without your help.
locate. Clue: Lack of engagement or effort Ask them to think out loud so you
• Obtain a student account to see Things to do: know what they are thinking and
what learners see (I always set • Design a low stress, fun initial why they are doing what they are
one of these up for this purpose). activity to help learners learn the doing. See where they are confused
• Develop and use a consistent tools and feel connected. (I like and how many steps it takes to get it
course structure so once learners course scavenger hunts for this right. If you can keep yourself from
learn how to use one online purpose.) helping them, you’ll learn a lot about
course, they know how to use • Quickly contact individual what may be unnecessarily
others, even though the content learners who don’t appear to be frustrating.
may be different. engaged by phone (best) or When learners can’t find what they
• If learners are reporting email. need or are confused about where to
problems, ask them for specific • Check in with individual learners go and what to do, we are inadver-
details (so you can troubleshoot). periodically to solicit feedback tently making it harder for them to
• Connect learners to campus about what is going well/less learn. That’s a situation that needs to
technical support, as needed. well and why. (Learners regularly be remedied if we want learners to be
(Following-up with the learner is tell me how valuable this is.) successful.
a good idea.)
• Make changes to the materials to Your turn Resources
address common concerns and Find someone who hasn’t seen Krug, S. (2006). Don't make me
use announcements or broadcast your online course and ask them to think: A common sense approach to
emails to make learners aware of do typical course tasks on your web usability, 2nd Edition. Berkeley,
these changes. course website (for example, print CA: New Riders Press @

Using Pre-admission Assessments to
Help Online Students Succeed
By Patti Shank, PhD, CPT

ost things in life have built- There are common but inevitable frustration leads to reduced satisfac-

M in frustrations. For example,
shopping at a grocery store
during its busiest time and waiting in
frustrations for online learners. The
tools have a learning curve, and
updated versions and new tools
tion and learning; angry and frus-
trated learners; and attrition.
In this article, I’ll discuss practices
line to check out feels like a waste of require additional efforts. Waiting for that help online learners, especially
time. Grocery stores have imple- communication (responses to a those who are new to online
mented self-service checkouts and question, work from another learner learning, to determine if they are
special cashier-checkout lines for on a collaborative project, feedback good candidates for online courses in
people with few items (who always on an assignment, etc.) is often frus- general and your online courses in
seem to have far more than the trating. Because the online learning particular.
allotted number of items) in order to experience is by its nature frustrating,
reduce customer frustrations, but we should try to take as much unnec-
some frustrations can only be essary frustration as possible out of PAGE 18
minimized, not eliminated. the experience, because too much


Faculty focus special report online course design 13 strategies for teaching in a web based distance learning environment

Faculty focus special report online course design 13 strategies for teaching in a web based distance learning environment

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