Online education ~ Developing an Individual Course

Sometimes, especially in colleges or universities new to online education,- teachers have the responsibility of turning on-site courses into their online- counterparts. This process may be the institution’s (and teacher’s) first- foray into online education. Teachers may determine that a new course- would be well suited to the online format and would be an important- addition to the curriculum. The administration agrees, and the mechanism- for offering such a course (or courses) is put into place. However, the- teachers may bear the weight of planning and developing course materials- and later working with technical experts to implement the course online.- If courseware selected by the university or college is used, the teacher may- be responsible for uploading course materials and learning to use the- courseware. In a similar way, teachers (who observe firsthand how a course- should operate and how well learners understand and use materials) initiate- updates. They may be responsible for uploading new information within a- courseware structure, or providing materials or descriptions of activities- for learners (such as streaming media) that then have to be implemented- by information technology experts. If teachers update courses as they see- a need for change, this situation may result in a less structured, sporadic- series of course changes. Not all teachers may feel that periodic updates are- necessary, or they simply may not have the time needed to update courses- as often as they would like.-

Administrators may determine that a new course is needed and then ask/- invite/require teachers to develop materials suitable for online classes.- Department chairs, deans, university presidents, or other administrators- are then responsible for managing curriculum development and responding- to market needs for online education. They may supervise everything—- curriculum development, strategic planning, teacher training, marketing,- scheduling, and other educational and business decisions.-

Designing and developing online courses may be the responsibility of any- number of people, who have different interests in and experiences with- distance education. The amount of time for course development, schedule- for implementing and updating courses, and degree of interaction among- teachers, designers, and technical specialists can vary widely among- academic institutions and businesses. You need to understand the- infrastructure, development policies, and implementation procedures for- your university or college.-

If you have come up with the idea for an online course, you might do most- of the planning before you propose a course to an institution’s administration.- If you have visited course sites similar to the one you want to- develop and if you understand the institution’s or corporate vendor’s range- of course offerings, your plan should illustrate how a new course would- fit into the current series of courses. If you are familiar with online- education, you may have designed a course on your own and now want- to offer it to an institution already familiar with online education. In this- situation, you will probably have to revise some of your plan to meet the- institution’s needs or overall objectives for and structure of online courses.- Perhaps your university or college is just beginning to offer online courses,- and you have been asked to develop a new course, or to turn an on-site- course into a compatible, effective online version. Your planning may stem- from a committee’s ideas about what should be in an online course, or the- institution may have already developed a model or guidelines so that all- courses will look alike.-

Whether you are updating an older course or creating something brand- new, you first must make sure that the purpose for the online course is- apparent. Savenye, Olina, and Niemczyk (2001) suggested that teachers- initially should select courses that they have successfully taught on site- as those that are later offered online. In this situation, the need for the- course has been established, the course approved and in place on campus,- and some parameters for course content, prerequisites, and support already- determined. In other words, you are not just creating online courses to be- trendy or to prove that you can, and much of the preliminary justification- or rationale for the course has been completed.-

Before your course planning gets into specifics, you and others involved- with program development must be confident that learners need the- course, the information does not duplicate that provided in other courses,- the course fits into the planned or existing curriculum, and the subject- matter can be well presented online. The course must be necessary and- marketable. Without meeting these criteria, a new course should not be- developed.-

If you are sure that a new or an updated course is warranted, no matter- what your specific situation, you will need to plan the course carefully.- Some administrators and teachers are surprised that this part of the process- requires a good deal of time. However, you should keep in mind that even- if you have taught an on-site version of a course that is about to go online,- the electronic medium differs from the on-site classroom. Both venues have- similar objectives for learning, but you must ensure that the online classes- are interactive and have a seamless, interesting interface. Although you- may have a head start on finding materials or a model to follow, you still- have a great deal of planning to do to create an effective online course.- Course designers must ensure that the educational structure is sound and- meets students’, teachers’, and the institution’s needs (especially in the- development of degree programs and in light of accreditation).