Course Structure & Design Overview

General Theories on Course Structure & Design

• Keep task information short but concise• Ensuring validity of material presented to students • Provide links to key databases and online sources of info (Not using copy and

paste to ensure copyright is not breached)• Use where possible audio material to allow the 'use of the academic voice'• Capturing master classes to allow review by those who may have missed the

live session (Chats etc)• Ensuring notes and resources of info are available 24 hours • Asking questions and elicting points of view from students, both public and

private• Allowing for a selection of both 'required' and 'optional' tasks• Making sure timelines are clearly communicated for task completion• Use of case studies to show real life effects rather than just theory

Purpose:

• To allow student to ‘get going’• To influence participation from day 1• To elicit quality feedback• To provide comfort to the student (Discussion

forums and direct contact with tutors)• To ensure future opportunities of business

The Course needs to:

• Provide technical assistance when required• Be structured to allow building on existing

student skills• Challenge students competencies (In comfort)• Motivate students to take part• Make students want to communicate with

their peers & tutors• Provide recognition on completion

Admin Considerations:• Allow enough time for all tasks (students doing

them and tutors marking or monitoring)• Provide timely feedback to students• How to cover the tutors roles (If absent)• Contingency plans for loss of training site• Consideration of student numbers • How to deal with student issues/complaints• Control of forums

Tutor considerations:

• Tutor competency• Multi cultural differences between the group• How much time they can allocate• What do they want from the course• How to manage very large or small groups• Assessment techniques

Task types: materialsChoose from a variety of materials

• Case studies• E-books• Vod- and pod-casts• OER commons/MERLOT/Jorum/NROC/Connexions• Nicky’s tool list• Master classes for academic “voice”• Texts• Presentations• Lectures

Modes

• Synchronous– Chats ( who takes part, how often & duration)– Video conferences (consider technical issues and

provide clear and unambiguous direction)

• Asynchronous– Forums (How many)– Discussion boards

Types of task: Synchronous or Asynchronous

• Discussion topics• Projects• Reflections• Assignments• Processes• Exploration of software or “ liveware”• Synthesis of analysis• Summaries

Nuts and Bolts

Check before the course begins: • Lay out of task• Organisation• Structure of the task• Instructions for clarity and simplicity• Use of colour or visuals• Hyperlinks within the VLE or to external

content