The instructor is able to arrange media and content that supports student learning, success, and progression through the course.
- The instructor explains to students how they should proceed through the course;
- The instructor appropriately and effectively uses tools within the LMS;
- The instructor can create and modify content within the LMS.
Reflection
Not only did I learn directly from the @ONE Online Teaching Program courses, but I also learned so much from the examples and sites shared by the online community. Being able to see how others designed and organized their online courses was so helpful, and I revised my courses tremendously as a result. My goal is that my courses are easy and inviting to use. I also added more communication and instructions to help students get setup. The students who have taken several courses from me in the Technical Communication program have noticed the enhancements and have given positive feedback.
Artifacts
The following artifacts provide examples of how I help student understand the course.
Home Page
I setup the home page of my courses to provide access to the four main categories of the course:
- What’s New: the current weekly outline and a link to a current event or relative video or article.
- Course Information: the Syllabus, my contact information, and a page of weekly outline links.
- Community: the LMS Discussion Board and Google Community page.
- College Resources: the Library, DSPS department, tutoring, and a page of tech tips.
- Visit the Sample Course home page
Module Folders
I organize online courses into weekly folders. Each weekly folder has a Weekly Outline that contains the information and links for all of the week’s resources and activities. The student can also find all the resources and activities within the weekly folder.
View the following screencast of one of my Desire2Learn course modules:
- View the Example Module video on YouTube
- Visit the Modules area of the sample course
Weekly Outline
The Weekly Outline provides the students with everything they need to know about that week. I organize the week into Resources and Activities. Resources provide the content of the course while Activities allow the students to practice and demonstrate their skills. To help establish a “rhythm” for the course and to help students understand what to do, I make each week consistent. Students study the resources and submit an original discussion post by Wednesday of each week. Then, they complete the remainder of the activities by Friday.
- Visit a Weekly Outline
Navigation
My goal is for the course navigation to be easy to understand. I organize my courses into the following sections:
- Home Page: For each of my courses, I use HTML to setup a custom home page that provides access to the main sections of the course: What’s New, Course Information, Community, and College Resources.
- Navigation Bars: The Navigation Bars are set by the LMS. The Navigation Bar for D2L is at the top of the page and provides links to everything in the course. The Canvas LMS provides two Navigation Bars: the Top Navigation Bar provides links to all of the students’ courses, assignments, and grades while the Side Navigation Bar provides access to the specific course in which the students are viewing.
- Modules: I organize folders (Modules) into weekly learning units. Each week’s Module provides everything students need to complete for the week.
The Canvas LMS also does a nice job at helping students navigate through the content within each Module by providing Previous and Next buttons that help students view content within each folder.
- Visit a content page in Canvas
Gradebook
I list the points in the Syllabus, the Weekly Outlines, and the Gradebook. The items in the Gradebook appear in the order in which students complete the assignments in class.
- Visit a Gradebook