Guan, S. (2007, November 5). What if Confucious Were to Teach Online? Instructional Design & Development Blog. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from http://www.iddblog.org/?p=36.
In a world of online teaching that is increasingly becoming controlled by "evaluations" that have very detailed ideas about how/why a course should be structured, I loved seeing a discussion of how/why an open learning environment could be very beneficial to learning.
Comment by Shelley: No modules, Love it! Although I'm the first to admit that I do more modular work, but I'm also a student of chaos.
Comment by Doug: The putative Confucian approach could only be performed by someone who doesn't want a tenure track position. Also, he would have rejected 75% of my students at MCC & ASU.

Van Duzer, Joan. Instructional Design Tips for Online Instruction. Humboldt State University website. Retrieved December 6, 2007.
This is an exhaustive checklist of considerations and design elements for all phases of developing an effective online course. The checklist covers the following areas:

1. Learner support and resources
2. Online organization and design
3. Instructional design and delivery
4. Assessment and evaluation of student learning
5. Appropriate and effective use of technology
6. Faculty use of student feedback

Each area includes numerous questions and characteristics to help the instructional designer or faculty member insure that all relevant design considerations have been incorporated into the online course. In pdf format for easy printing and reference, this comprehensive checklist provides criteria for building, assessing, and improving online education delivery.
Comment by Linda: Wow, this is an impressive resource! Without such a detailed checklist, who could ever keep all these criteria and characteristics in mind while building an online course? As I pilot several new online courses during the next several semesters, I plan to print and maintain a checklist for each one to guide me as I finetune the courses based on experience and student feedback. Ms. Van Duzer's website at http://www.humboldt.edu/~jdv1/ contains a number of extremely useful resources and tools for those who are designing and teaching distance learning classes. I highly recommend that you visit this site!



Henne, Andrea. Template for the Design and development of Online Courses.
Retrieved 6 December, 2007, from http://hl.teachmag.com/hl_Archives/05/higher_learning_nov_dec_2005.pdf

When faced with online teaching challenges, faculty members often struggle with translating course content into the online environment. While there is no one-size-fits-all formula for developing an online course, there are common components, criteria and guidelines that faculty can adopt to fit their needs and requirements.
At Alliant University, we have had success with guiding the faculty in developing online courses by providing a template that consists of five sections:

1. Module matrix with required components, criteria and guidelines.
2. Syllabus required components and guidelines.
3. Sample syllabus template.
4. General guidelines for materials formatting.
5. Recommended course development guidelines

Comments by Margarita
Organization and structure are important for a successful online learning experience.
In this article the author explains how the class is divided by modules in which students have to accomplish one at a time before moving on to the next module. Modules are developed as follows:

1. Pre-Assessment
2. Learning objectives
3. Assigned Reading
4. Assigned writing
5. Exercise Activities
6. For further study
7. Assessment

The module matrix also includes a Pre-registration quiz to determine the readiness of students in taking an online course. This is a winner!


From Doug: There are differing views as what modules should do. Mostly they are concerned with how students learn. http://www.learningpaths.org/papers/modules.htm defines modules this way:

		A “module” is a portion of a curriculum: It is a relatively autonomous portion, since it is based on a limited number of objectives which the learner is expected to achieve and the school is expected to be able to assess and certify. This certification can be used as part of a unit-credit system, so that at each stage of the curriculum (at school, as well as after school) one should be able to demonstrate what sort of competence she/he has actually achieved.

Alternatively, they can be used to help instructors. http://chemistry.beloit.edu/Guide/SuperIM.pdf the goal of the modules is to provide resources to instructors that will allow them to transform their classrooms into active, student-centered learning environments. (1 sentence from a 46 page essay). I expect to use this paper extensively.



Posted by Shabana While exploring the web I found Van Duzer Joan’s article, “Instructional Design Tips for Online Instruction” the most comprehensive and thoughtful on the topic. I quickly decided to add it on my wiki as a resource and also planned to make a copy for future reference but found it already there. Linda, you are very efficient!
From other resources, ADDIE Model attracted me as it is a generic, systematic approach to the instructional design process, which provides instructional designers with a framework in order to make sure that their instructional products are effective and that their creative processes are as efficient as they can possibly be.
ADDIE stands for:
Analyze: define the needs and constraints
Design: specify learning activities, assessment and choose methods and media
Develop: begin production, formative evaluation, and revise
Implement: put the plan into action
Evaluate: evaluate the plan from all levels for next implementation.
As I couldn’t find enough details about the ADDIE model and providing another useful resource by Diane Ehrlich here:
http://www.neiu.edu/~dbehrlic/hrd408/confpresent.htm
Needs and goals of learners are the focus of this design. The objectives, instructions, activities, and evaluations are organized according to these needs and goals.