Not to say that you should avoid text entirely – text content is a crucial part of most online courses. However, you should add more types into the mix. Not because text content is boring, but because learning by reading alone isn’t particularly effective.
One of the best things an instructor can do to ensure that students know how to get started and find course components is to create a course tour video and make it available on the welcome page. This can either be included in the same video as a Course Welcome video, or they can be distinct.
Finding Facebook groups in your topic area is an excellent way of finding testers for your online course. However small or large you want this stage of checking to be, you need the student’s point of view to be sure that you’re transmitting your knowledge correctly.
I would never advise creating online training programs on subjects you know very little about. However, credibility and authority are something that can be developed – work on that. Is there enough demand for the topic? Earlier, I told you to be as specific as possible with your course topic.
Easy course navigation is a critical component of a great online course. According to Quality Matters#N#26#N#(QM), an organization dedicated to improving online course quality, one of the requirements for a QM certified course is that the, “Course navigation facilitates ease of use” (QM Standard 8.1), adding, “Navigation throughout the course [should be] consistent, logical, and efficient.” Reducing the amount of scrolling, clicking, and searching means your students can spend more time learning the content and they’ll miss fewer critical details like assignment requirements and due dates, resulting in a better overall experience for both students and instructors. Here are nine ways to improve your students’ ability to get where they need to go.
One important consideration is the expected longevity of the video. A course welcome often covers the main topics and projects in a course which typically don’t change very often, while the layout and specifics of a course shell are often edited from term to term.
Consistency between modules in a course will help students become familiar with the course design. Quality Matters recommends that a, “Consistent layout and design are employed throughout, making content, instructional materials, tools, and media easy to locate from anywhere in the course. Design elements are used repetitively, increasing predictability and intuitiveness” (QM Standard 8.1). Use a similar sequence and visual appearance with your content items from week to week to help the students develop expectations and a routine that will set them up for success.
Here are nine ways to improve your students’ ability to get where they need to go. 1. Create a course tour video. , the first characteristic listed for a quality online course is: “Instructions make clear how to get started and where to find various course components” (QM Standard 1.1). One of the best things an instructor can do to ensure ...
With fewer reminders, there may be greater pressure on online students to take the initiative to check the requirements each semester and remember to return rentals.
Print textbooks are sometimes required but may also be available in the digital format. “More and more, textbook publishers these days are also making digital versions of their textbooks, so that’s always an option that’s available, too,” says Jessie Guy-Ryan, associate director of online learning at the New York University Tandon School ...
Gender. On average, the gender make-up for MOOCs is 53% female and 47% male. However, in some subjects such as engineering courses, the ratio can shift heavily, with up to 85% of students being male. Level of education. The majority of online course students are highly educated with a Bachelor’s degree or higher.
An easy way to make online courses more engaging is to stimulate the student visually. This means pictures and videos. The simplest method of using picture and videos in an online course would be constructing your online class more like a PowerPoint presentation:
One of the most important components of creating an online course is setting a learning goal for the course . However, there’s more to it. Every online course consists of various sections, and each individual section also needs to have a clear learning goal.
Which means you need to get your knowledge together.
The target audience is the group of people to whom you are writing your course.
Remember, teaching is more than just imparting knowledge. Never in human history has so much knowledge been so accessible to anyone with such a low barrier for entry. Just on your phone, you can bring up a wealth of information about Nuclear Physics with just a few keystrokes. Fifty years ago, you’d have to break out an encyclopedia or a book dedicated to the subject, and it’d be just as much work to get another point of view on the same topic.
That being said, you don’t need to create all of the content for your online course before you start selling it. It’s always better to start off with a smaller batch of content, as this will allow you to take in feedback from your students and make improvements accordingly.
2. Hold yourself accountable. Set goals at the beginning of the semester, and check in with yourself weekly.
Most online courses are built around the concept of collaboration, with professors and instructors actively encouraging that students work together to complete assignments and discuss lessons.
Online classes are an excellent option to help you earn that degree you need to fulfill your goals. Though they come with their own unique challenges, following the advice above can help you be successful even in the most chaotic of times.
Course materials should generally not be used as a source for assignments. Try and find another source which makes a similar point to your course materials instead of using it as a source.
If the audience can access the sources in Brightspace or other online learning system, you will cite according to the type of resource (book, journal, PowerPoint slides, etc.). If you do not see an author, you can use Southern New Hampshire University as the group author. If you do not see a date, you can use (n.d.).
Nine tips for course materials follow. Consult Accessible Technology at uw.edu/accessibility for details on the design, selection, and use of accessible IT as well as accessibility checkers that help you identify accessibility problems in materials you use or create:
DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) serves to increase the success of individuals with disabilities. This publication was partially funded through DO-IT’s AccessCyberlearning project that is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF Grant #1550477).
As you look at text-based materials, there are a few things to consider.
Part of evaluating video materials is determining how much and what sort of video would be useful for your students. Here we are talking primarily about video that others have made. We’ll look more specifically at video that you make later in this module.
How well does the video align with your class? Is it something that will directly help students reach a learning outcome or is interesting but not directly applicable.