Course Design addresses elements of instructional design. For the purpose of this rubric, course design includes such elements as structure of the course, learning objectives, organization of content, and instructional strategies.
Interaction and Collaboration
Interaction denotes communication between and among learners and instructors, synchronously or asynchronously. Collaboration is a subset of interaction and refers specifically to those activities in which groups are working interdependently toward a shared result. This differs from group activities that can be completed by students working independently of one another and then combining the results, much as one would when assembling a jigsaw puzzle with parts of the puzzle worked out separately then assembled together. A learning community is defined here as the sense of belonging to a group, rather than each student perceiving himself/herself studying independently.
Assessment
Assessment focuses on instructional activities designed to measure progress toward learning outcomes, provide feedback to students and instructors, and/or enable grading or evaluation. This section addresses the quality and type of student assessments within the course.
Learner Support
Learner Support addresses the support resources made available to students taking the course. Such resources may be accessible within or external to the course environment. Learner support resources address a variety of student services.
Zhang, X., Chen, H., Pablos, P. O. de, Lytras, M. D., & Sun, Y. (2016). Coordinated Implicitly? An Empirical Study on the Role of Social Media in Collaborative Learning. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 17(6). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i6.2622
Vlachopoulos, D. (2016). Assuring Quality in E-Learning Course Design: The Roadmap. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 17(6). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i6.2784
Ungerer, L. M. (2016). Digital Curation as a Core Competency in Current Learning and Literacy: A Higher Education Perspective. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 17(5). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i5.2566
metaliteracy
Technology considerably impacts on current literacy requirements (Reinking, as cited in Sharma & Deschaine, 2016). Being literate in the 21st century requires being able to decode and comprehend multimodal texts and digital format and also engage with these texts in a purposeful manner. Literacy is not merely based on a specific skill, but consists of a process that embraces the dynamic, social, and collaborative facets of digital technology (Lewis & Fabos, as cited in Mills, 2013).
Mackey and Jacobson (2011) suggest reframing the concept of information literacy as metaliteracy (supporting multiple literacy types) because of a tremendous growth in social media and collaborative online communities. They propose that information literacy currently involves more than a set of discrete skills, since active knowledge production and distribution in collaborative online communities are also necessary.
Mackey and Jacobson (2011) position metaliteracy as an overarching and comprehensive framework that informs other literacy types. It serves as the basis for media literacy, digital literacy, ICT literacy, and visual literacy.
According to Mills (2013, p. 47), digital curation is the sifting and aggregation of internet and other digital resources into a manageable collection of what teachers and students find relevant, personalized and dynamic. It incorporates the vibrancy of components of the Internet and provides a repository that is easily accessible and usable.
Pedagogies of Abundance
According to Weller (2011), a pedagogy of abundance should consider a number of assumptions such as that content often is freely available and abundant. Content further takes on various forms and it is often easy and inexpensive to share information. Content is socially based and since people filter and share content, a social approach to learning is advisable. Further, establishing and preserving connections in a network is easy and they do not have to be maintained on a one-to-one basis. Successful informal groupings occur frequently, reducing the need to formally manage groups.
Resource-based learning. Ryan (as cited in Weller, 2011) defines resource-based learning as “an integrated set of strategies to promote student centred learning in a mass education context, through a combination of specially designed learning resources and interactive media and technologies.”
Problem-based learning. Problem-based learning takes place when learners experience the process of working toward resolving a problem encountered early in the learning process (Barrows & Tamblyn, as cited in Weller, 2011). Students often collaborate in small groups to identify solutions to ill-defined problems, while the teacher acts as facilitator and assists groups if they need help. Problem-based learning meets a number of important requirements such as being learner-directed, using diverse resources and taking an open-ended approach.
Communities of practice. Lave and Wenger’s (as cited in Weller, 2011) concept of situated learning and Wenger’s (as cited in Weller, 2011) idea of communities of practice highlight the importance of apprenticeship and the social role in learning.
My note: this article spells out what needs to be done and how. it is just flabeghasting that research guides are employed so religiously by librarians. They are exactly the opposite concept of the one presented in this article: they are closed, controlled by one or several librarians, without a constant and easy access of the instructor, not to mention the students’ participation
Pick the tool you will be using for creating storyboards (MS Office tools: Word, Excel, PPT).
Create a sketch of the title page with the name of the course and 3-5 page mockups containing the course sets out to accomplish, e.g.
What Ιs Gamification?
Game Thinking.
Game Elements.
Motivation & Psychology.
Gamification Design Framework.
After you have outlined the principal structure of the course, it’s time to go deeper and describe the structure of every section of the course.
Try to visualize the general layout of every page.
Enumerate all screens in the storyboard, e.g. 1/16, 2/16, 3/16, and so on.
Lay out the screens of your storyboard in order and try following the story they tell. Look at them through your learners’ eyes. Is all information delivered in a logical order? Did you leave out something important? Are your notes clear enough so that you will be able to build a complete course using your storyboard for reference a week later? Have you touched upon all important areas?
If you need to present your storyboard to your client (student) or boss (student) for review, it pays to show it to a good friend first and ask for feedback. Ask them to read your storyboard and then retell what they took away from it in their own words.
in Geenio (https://www.geen.io/) this mode is called the Pathboard, and entering it allows you to see the structure of your whole course, the sequence in which pages and tests are presented, as well as the connections between them. Some course editors not only provide you an overview of your course’s structure, but enable you to edit the course’s structure and add additional elements to it as well.
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More on storyboard importance for your hybrid/online course design:
State your objective: Each lesson should have one concise, action-oriented learning objective to ensure your lesson design process is focused.
Think as a private tutor: Learners today are inundated with media tailored to them and they expect learning to be tailored as well. So think about how the tools available, including new technologies, will help create meaningful learning moments for all your students.
Storyboard before you build: Being able to see a complete lesson, especially one that integrates various mediums, is essential to creating a successful learning experience.
Build towards high-order thinking: Technology in education can go beyond multiple-choice questions and document repositories. Don’t be afraid to integrate tools that let learners create and share.
Remember you’re learning too: Reviewing learner results from a lesson shouldn’t just be about their score, but also evaluating how effectively the lesson was developed and executed so your teaching can adapt and learn as well.
With an emerging Millennial workforce, organizations are struggling with an influx of new business requirements being defined by consumer based solutions. Expecting engaging content through social and fun applications, organizations that cling to traditional methods of communication, learning, networking and certification will find themselves challenged in their ability to attract and retain top talent.
Join this webinar to discover best practices on how to develop engaging content, including:
Key trends in learning engagement
Effective design of course material
Tips and trick on making content interesting
Time 11:00am ET
Audience: Enterprise
Presenter(s): Jeff Salin, Senior Instructional Designer and Team Lead, Creative Services Department, D2L
Using Creative Course Design to Increase Student Engagement
Keeping your learners engaged is a key to success in online learning. This webinar focuses on the tools and strategies that can be used to create an engaging learner experience and increase student success. We’ll share the components of course design that will help you to improve your courses and provide examples of what an engaging course looks like. Conestoga College will be joining us to share their recent experience using the Creative Services team at D2L to improve their online courses, and the benefits that they’ve seen.
Time 2:00pm ET
Audience: All
Presenter(s): Sandra Memmolo eLearning Developer, Kim Regehr Course Instructor, Christa Johnston Instructional Designer, Courseware Development
