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Designing a Course

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Designing an online course can be similar to designing a classroom course. First, you or another designer creates content for the course. Content includes all material that you want to use in a course, such as course requirements, lessons, reading lists, assignments, and quizzes.

Then, you organize the content into logical units that can be presented in a meaningful way to Students. For example, you can organize content chronologically, by topic, or by level of complexity.

When designing a fully online course, it is important that you provide online communication channels that allow Section Instructors and Students to interact with one another. Unlike being in a classroom course, you cannot rely on face-to-face interaction. You can provide communication channels that allow all members of the course to exchange feedback, offer opinions, provide guidance, and ask questions just as they would in a classroom course.

To design a course, you use various tools in the course software. A tool is a function in the software that allows users to perform specific activities. You can use the following types of tools:

  • Organizational Tools. You use these tools to allow Section Instructors and Students to search for content and keep track of important events and deadlines in a course calendar.
     
  • Communication Tools. You use these tools to create online communication channels that allow Section Instructors and Students to send messages, hold online discussions, and chat in real time.
     
  • Student Learning Activities. You use these tools to create quizzes, self tests, surveys, and assignments. Section Instructors use these tools to grade the assessments and assignments submitted by Students.
     
  • Content Tools. You use these tools to create and organize content. You or the Section Instructor uses these tools to present content to Students.

You can also use designer tools to access additional options for customizing the course, managing files, and controlling the availability of content.

There are also student tools, which are available to Students only. These tools allow Students to view their grades, keep track of their own progress, make notes, and store their own files in a course.

The overall process for designing a course is:

  1. Creating content
  2. Organizing content
  3. Providing communication channels