Next Steps for Course Design

As I close in on this final week of the 5318 course, my attention shifts to what lies ahead for the course I have created. My folders are organized, content is uploaded, and assignments are ready to go. Now the waiting process begins. Although I feel that I have created a relatively good course, I won’t really know anything until my students begin taking it. How effective will my course actually be? If it is not effective, what will I need to do to make it more high quality? These are questions I am currently pondering and for which I am preparing my next steps.

When determining the quality and effectiveness of my course, questions will play a large part in how I conduct this process. The amount of questions I receive from students and parents will inform me greatly of the effectiveness of my content delivery, the clarity of my communication of directions and expectations, and the appropriateness of my assignments. If I have very few questions, I know that I have more than likely done well in organizing a clear, effective course for all learners. From this point, I can then participate in ongoing professional development via mentors, conferences, webinars (iNACOL, 2015) as well as collaborations with PLCs (Microsoft Education, 2016) and even my students (ChangSchool, 2011) to extend my learning and increase my knowledge of how to effectively teach various types of learners and improve teaching effectiveness online (iNACOL, 2015). This will help me create even better online courses in the future. However, if the opposite occurs and I am inundated with frequent questions about the course, this is a strong indication that several improvements will need to be made for the course to be considered high quality.

This is where my questioning will come into play. If I have realized that my course is not as effective as I would have liked it to be, the first questions I would ask myself are about the content. Some of the question I would ask myself are:

1. Did I “set clear learning outcomes and select teaching methods that will support the development of knowledge and skills”? (Bates, 2015)

2. Did I give learners “ample time to practice and develop their skills in critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity via collaboration activities (Bates, 2015; Project Tomorrow, 2015) like group projects”? (iNACOL, 2015)

3. Does my content contain “a wide range of modes of delivery” (Bates, 2015) and “respect diverse talents and ways of learning”? (Chickering and Gamson, 1987)

4. Does the manner in which technology is being used in the course encourage students to “learn at their own pace and take ownership of their learning”? (Project Tomorrow, 2015)

If all of these questions provide positive answers, I would then move on to questions about communication. Some of the questions I would ask myself are:

1. Did I properly introduce my course by providing learners with “an online orientation course that allows them to become familiar with the learning management system and any other software systems they will use”? (iNACOL, 2015)

2. Did I effectively “communicate the overall expectations of what will be required to be successful in the online learning program”? (iNACOL, 2015)

3. Did I offer students and parents adequate support by maintaining a “regular and on-going instructor/teacher presence” (Bates, 2015), “creating and facilitating group discussions”, “responding to students’ questions and concepts that they are finding most challenging”, conducting “frequent assessments of student learning...to determine when a student needs academic support”, and frequently “communicating with students and their mentors”? (iNACOL, 2015)

Between the content and communication, the problem(s) with the course can usually be found. Therefore, once I have determined what the issues are, I can begin to find solutions. Some of the most effective ways of finding solutions were mentioned earlier as part of my professional learning extension. Seeking advice from members of my PLC’s, mentors, and professional development sessions could help me greatly in finding ways to fix any problems my course may have. Also, internet searches and online education experts on social media could provide new sources of information for me to explore in effort to improve my virtual learning behaviors course.

Whether done well or still in need of improvement, I feel that I have a good plan in place that makes me prepared to take the next step in my course design journey.

REFERENCES

Bates, A.W. (2015). Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning (Chapters 11-12). Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

ChangSchool. (2011). Perspectives: Teacher skills in a digital age. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://amara.org/en/videos/R3sGzvS202Kq/info/perspectives-teacher-skills-in-a-digital-age/

Chickering, A., and Gamson, Z. (1987) ‘Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education’ AAHE Bulletin, March 1987.

iNACOL. (2015). How to Start and Online Learning Program: A Practical Guide to Key Issues and Policies. Retrieved from http://www.onlineprogramhowto.org

Microsoft Education. (2016). Omaha Public Schools turn to Office 365 to streamline professional development. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ3fv3n9RFs&t=3s

Project Tomorrow. (2015). Trends in Digital Learning: Empowering Innovative Classroom Models for Learning. Retrieved from http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/2015_ClassroomModels.html