Designing a course is a bit like creating a recipe. The idea is to come up with the steps you need to end up with a desired outcome. You use a variety of tools and techniques, add in a collection of ingredients, and end up with a meal - sorta.
The problem with designing and developing distance courses is embodied in Equivalency Theory. According to Equivalency you need to account for everything in the classroom and make sure there’s some equivalent function in the distance course. The issue for me here is that I’m not willing to accept equivalence in outcomes — I want superior ones — and that’s an interesting ideal. That aside, we have to make sure that as a minimum we design into our distance courses all the functions and features of a classroom based experience which contribute to positive outcomes. We don’t need to design in parking tickets or flat tires. Those technological obstacles happen whether we like it or not. We do need to design in the social interactions that make all the difference between a class students find exemplary and one they find to be less than engaging. We need to design in the content area interactions that provide for the instructional components. And we need to design in the connectability that permits students to develop a feeling of affiliation with some part of the distance course. Some students will want to become affiliated with the teacher, others with other students. Some will be satisfied with connections to the content. Some will be satisfied with affiliation with the school or the program.
Equivalency doesn’t mean we have to do the same things in distance delivery that we do in the classroom — only that we find analogs for those things which can be encoded and delivered via some channel that’s available in our environment. That is where the tool selection comes into play because it is thru the use of the channels inherent in the tools that our equivalence is accomplished.
October 1st, 2006 at 12:32 pm
When developing a course the instructor should have a “blueprint” already sketched. They need to ensure that the course objectives are met and that the students receive sufficient learning outcomes. The design should contain content modules that consist of all of the components required for the course.
The most important concept is to reinforce the students involvement in the course. The student is truly responsible for their learning. In the past online courses as well as face2face courses were either teacher-centered or student-centered. Now the new methodology is to become learning-centered. Incorporation of all 3 would be the ideal classroom environment whether in-person or virtual.
September 25th, 2007 at 8:37 am
[...] One of the enduring metaphors used to describe education is that it’s a recipe for instilling knowledge. I use it in this post: Design and Development The problem with designing and developing distance courses is embodied in Equivalency Theory. According to Equivalency you need to account for everything in the classroom and make sure there’s some equivalent function in the distance course. [...]
September 26th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
While I do believe that the designer of a course must have some guideline in place when they begin planning, I do not think that it is possible to plan for every contingency that might occur when delivering class by distance means. Every class of students is different….the perosnalities, thoughts, feelings and prior learnin they bring with them creates a unqiue environment that will not be the same in the next class. Therefore, it is not possible to plan a course like a “one size fits all” shirt….many differences must be addressed between the learners, and only a live person can address and adapt as necessary to help insure a positive learning outcome. Ideally, a well planned course would include a varitey off materials and approaches, and that only happens when a well trained teacher is at the helm
September 30th, 2007 at 9:58 am
[...] In thinking about designing an online course and reading the Design and Development post, I decided to focus on what was said about equilvalency. My experience with recipes is very limited, but my wife and I talked about it (she’s a home ec. teacher) and she said that the term equivalent to her means the same, yet different. I can echo those thoughts from my math background as well…..the same, yet different. As far as designing an online course, I would think that the very nature of distance education would indicate that the course is to be different, yet it should be the same in terms of learning objectives and outcomes. Okay, I haven’t said anything different from what has been posted, but I thought I would try to take components of regular classroom and draw anaologies to online courses and see what I come up with. [...]
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:49 am
[...] that we have our toolboxes, what do we build? How do we go about it? Design and Development. Designing a course is a bit like creating a recipe. The idea is to come up with the steps you need [...]
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I do not think that any class should be a cookie cutter class. Every group of students is different and the ways that information is presented should be different. In this class we have gotten into discussions that may not have been in the “plan” and that is just part of learning and teaching. A teacher should have a good idea of the content to be covered, but there should be some flexibility. I think that when designing a course there should always be more objectives than the teacher thinks is possible. Some classes may learn at a slower pace and minor adjustments may be needed, but then there are others that may really take off and go beyond the expectations. I think that high goals make any classroom better and teachers should always be prepared for those classes that are high achievers.
I would say the expectations for this class are pretty high and we have already covered more content than most online or traditional classes. I am achieving what I thought was the impossible and I am learning everyday. I feel like I am being pushed every week to succeed and I am. I am a huge part of this course. We do assignments that require us to research and learn on our own. I could not pass this course without taking ownership, but if I am stuck I can get help.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I find the one of the differences in this online class that I did not have in the others is the connection with other students. I find that channel has helped me connect with other students in the class. The other courses I didn’t feel like I knew any other students existed. There was discussion board but it isn’t the same as the live chats and Instant Messageing.