Instructional Design Factors and Requirements for Online Courses and Modules

Author(s):  
James E. Schnitz ◽  
Janet W. Azbell

The nature of digital content and tools, coupled with the communications capabilities available through online instruction, can, if leveraged properly, provide opportunities for quality instructional delivery. This chapter proposes that — even in an environment of remote, asynchronous, web-based instruction — approaches and the best of effective classroom practices may not be sufficient to address the full range of capabilities the technology provides. Through work done by IBM and the Florida Virtual School (FLVS), principles and models for leveraging the advantages offered by the technology environment and overcoming the difficulties inherent have been worked out in ways that offer significant promise to all providers of virtual schooling.

Author(s):  
A. Juan ◽  
J. Faulin ◽  
P. Fonseca ◽  
C. Steegmann ◽  
L. Pla ◽  
...  

This chapter presents a case study of online teaching in Statistics and Operations Research (OR) at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). UOC is a purely online university with headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, with students from many countries. As common to most math-related knowledge areas, teaching and learning Statistics and OR present difficult challenges in traditional higher education. These issues are exacerbated in online environments where face-to-face interactions between students and instructors as well as among students themselves are limited or non-existent. Despite these difficulties, as evidenced in the global growth of online course offerings, Web-based instruction offers comparative benefits to traditional face-to-face instruction. While there exists a plethora of literature covering experiences and best practices in traditional face-to-face instruction in mathematics, there is a lack of research describing long-term successful experiences in Statistics and OR online courses. Based on the authors’ experiences during the last decade, this chapter aims to share some insights on how to design and develop successful online courses in these knowledge areas.


2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence William Cavanaugh ◽  
Marcia L. Lambkin ◽  
Haihong (Helen) Hu

Learning environments such as web-based instruction require more learner self-control and proactive learning to construct knowledge and acquire skills. However, online students often fail to complete some components of their online work each week, damaging their overall academic progress in the course. To assist students in completion and submission of work, three professors at a public southeastern university implemented the use of a generalized assignments checklist to enhance student self-monitoring in their online courses. Data on the submission of assignments was analyzed for relative timeliness. The results of this study showed a statistically significant difference based on the checklist received students to the control group, with a marked improvement of assignment submission timeliness, improving course satisfaction for students and instructors.


Since the 5Ds Model for Planning and Teaching Online Courses was republished for the second time in 2009 and updated in the years beyond, numerous relevant models and approaches for online teaching have been emerging. Also, the utilization of the internet as an instructional delivery medium for both formal education and training has been widened as the number of online learners of all kinds has been on the rise. This is all happening as the web-based and instructional technologies are constantly changing and new challenges and opportunities in the online learning arena are evolving. This chapter presents some summaries of the emerging online learning research, web-based instructional technologies, and identifies some of the opportunities in this online learning field.


Author(s):  
Selma Koç ◽  
Marius Boboc

Over 900 colleges and universities across the U.S. have adopted the Quality Matters Rubric for the design of their online courses with the intention of providing guidance to both instructors and peer reviewers. Given the challenge of how design components align with Web-based instruction delivery in terms of interactivity and formative assessment, there is a need to develop guidelines to establish a strong connection between design and delivery. Such information could support a dynamic, balanced, and student-centered approach to instructional development in virtual learning environments. This chapter proposes a matrix built on the linkage among well-established design practices, delivery methods or strategies, and assessment routines.


Author(s):  
Glenn Russel

This article discusses virtual schools. It examines reasons for their growth, and relates criticism and support of virtual schools to the purposes of schooling. In particular, the notions of socialization, values, affective objectives and the future needs of communities are examined. This article discusses the measurement and importance of values and socialization in a school system where virtual schools are valued, and concludes that more attention must be given to these issues as this schooling mode matures. Virtual schools are a variant of distance education whereby students use online computers for some or all of their schooling. Russell (2004) suggests that they may be categorized in terms of the amount of face-to-face interaction, as the range of virtual schools now available includes the following: 1. Those offering some virtual classes at conventional schools. 2. “Out-of-school” models, where there is no designated school building and students never attend a face-to-face class. 3. Mixed-mode examples, where students are expected to work online from home or elsewhere, but attend some face-to-face sessions such as sport or social activities. Variation can also be seen in the experiences offered to students in the online component of their course. Some schools, such as the Virtual Schooling Service in Queensland, Australia (VSS 2003), rely principally on synchronous interaction in the timetabled classes of conventional schools. Other schools, such as Florida Virtual School in the United States (U.S.), use asynchronous methods to enable greater flexibility. The Florida Virtual School uses the motto of “Teaching Any Time, Any Place, Any Pace” (Johnson 2004). The experiences that students will receive within the online component of their virtual schools also vary. An examination of virtual school Web sites and reports, including the California Virtual School Report (2000), Virtual High School (Kozma, Zucker, Espinoza, McGee, Yarnell, Zalles, & Lewis, 2000) and Florida (Florida High School Evaluation, 2002) indicate a range of environments. These include Web pages, chat rooms, online discussion groups and e-mail. In addition, some schools retain predecessor technologies such as telephone, post and audio and videotapes—or combinations of technologies that seem appropriate. It is difficult, if not impossible, to compare student experiences where the technological provision is so disparate


Author(s):  
Dahli Gray Helmi ◽  
Gregory Haynes ◽  
Caroline Maun

Issues in teaching various types of information through web-based instruction are explored.  The questions of distinctions between content and process courses are evaluated.  Some ways in which the resistance to web based learning as a medium of communication can be broken down are covered.  Interdisciplinary thinking offers new solutions and hybrid approaches to emerging challenges of educating over the net. Pulling from the seemingly disparate fields of Accounting & Finance, Chemistry, and Rhetoric & Composition new vectors of thinking can be forged. The authors teach online courses in their disciplines. They have drawn on their experiences and the experiences of others to find solutions to problems encountered with distance education.  The medium of education over the Internet blurs traditional distinctions of forms and methods of learning.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document