Each lesson logically followed the previous one and students were required to demonstrate learning of concepts by writing about them in a design proposal and apply them to a course. The tools and course aids helped to further cement my understanding of course content.
The course covered the following concepts, their impact and how they relate to course design:
- Giving and providing feedback;
- Learner and Non-Learner issues;
- Assessments;
- Content Presentation and Interaction;
Feedback
To set the tone for the course, students gave their perspectives on giving and receiving feedback. This is very important because throughout the course, peer review was a requirement. Students need to know how to give and receive feedback to maximize their potential for success. Feedback can provide valuable information that should be included in design structure. Also, in the real world, peer review can provide a balanced insight of what can be improved. I incorporated much of the feedback I received from my peers in my final design proposal.
Course Design Phase
The course design phase began by challenging students to write a course overview and purpose about a course they wanted to design online. This was the first part of what would be a final project at the end of the course. The overview served as an outline for the entire project. Fortunately, students were provided with a course overview form which served as a guide. We created course objectives and a lesson outline over the length of the proposed course.
This course also focused on design considerations and constraints which covered learner and non-learner issues. This was by far the most difficult component of the course because there are so many design elements to consider and propose effectve strategies for each element.
Non-learner issues are environmental elements that place constraints on the design and must be addressed to ensure that the student learning process is not negatively impacted. Non-learner issues should include considerations for elements such as technology to be incorporated, changing content, experience level of the instructor and available support for the instructor.
Learner issues are characteristics of the expected student group that require specific design strategies to ensure students are successful. Such characteristics include but are not limited to learning styles, technical experience, cultural barriers and time management. Learner issues must also be taken into consideration during the design phase otherwise it could negatively impact student success.
As an instructor with limited experience, I believe a good strategy for my course would be to keep the course design elements simple. Fortunately, a tool was provided to assist in reflecting on course design questions, impacts and potential strategies.
Assessments
Next, students were introduced to the use of assessments from a design perspective. Assessment is the measurement of student retention of important course materials and proficiency with application of concepts. There are many ways that student learning can be assessed and the type and number of assessments are directly related to student outcomes.
For my course, "Writing for Print Media", my design proposal incorporated formative and summative assessments, where formative assessments are a measure of student progress in the learning of lesson objectives and summative, which is a measurement of how well students learned course content for practical application. Both relate to course level objectives. I incorporated discussion posts where students have to demonstrate learning of objectives, writing assignments and quizzes to assess how well they can apply the concepts learned.
Content Presentation and Interaction
Content presentation and interaction
were the next elements to consider in the design phase and included:
· Content Presentation-[how
content is presented to students-i.e., textbook, links, multimedia].
· Student-Content Interaction [interaction consisting of active learning exercises in
which students utilize the knowledge they have gained through the lesson
content presentation strategies. This is important because this kind of
interaction promoted deeper learning and long term retention of course
materials].
· Student-Student Interaction [involves students taking the information they learn and
interacting with other students to heighten the learning experience and foster
the student learning community. This is important because by fostering this
sense of connection, it will reduce attrition that comes when students feel
like they are learning in isolation from others].
· Student-Instructor Interaction- [involves communication between the student and instructor
about course content, assignments, lesson objectives, learning activities, etc.
This is important at the design level because regular communication supports student
success in the course, especially since the online environment may be a new
medium of learning for students. This encompasses one-to-many communication and
one-to-one communication].
Quality ManagementQuality Management (QM) focuses not only on the quality of course design but the process as well. The QM process measures the course design information against proven standards from universal expert sources. The process also encourages recommendations for improvement. For this course, the QM tool was helpful because it brought all course concepts together in one place. From this tool, I was able to think critically about what my design was and measure it against what it should be optimally.
Conclusion
Overall, this was a very challenging
course, however, the tools were excellent in assisting students to think about
the best practices in designing online courses. I look forward to implementing
the design elements in the last course of the certification.
