online course design Archives – Page 2 of 3

Simulations in Online Courses: Integrating Synchronous Experiential Learning Opportunities for Students in the Virtual Classroom

Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, Karla Morris, and Steph A. F. James May 4, 2020

Educators have long praised the value of simulations and role-playing exercises and the impact of those experiential activities on student learning. As Bjorn Billhardt (2005) explains, “Simulations offer huge advantages over lectures, handbooks, or on-site trainers. They engage students while helping them retain and apply

function over form - online course design

Put Function Over Form when Designing Online Courses

John Orlando January 14, 2019

Faculty tend to lament that student evaluations are just opportunities for students with bad grades to hammer their instructor. But I always believed that student surveys where actually designed to inflate approval ratings. They always start by asking simple class format questions, such as “Did

Improving the Instructional Designer-Faculty Relationship

Angela Heath October 22, 2018

When online instructors and instructional designers work together to develop a course, communication is often one of the biggest challenges as thoughts and intentions on both sides get lost in translation. As a faculty member who’s also spent time as an instructional designer, I’ve had

model for adding simulations in teaching

A Simple Model for Adding Simulations to Your Courses

Alicia K. Ribar, PhD, and Vera Polyakova-Norwood October 15, 2018

One of the goals of professional programs is to develop students’ critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, however it’s not always easy to create authentic exercises that enable students to practice the kinds of critical thinking skills required by their profession and then demonstrate competency. This

Improve Your Online Course with
Pre-Entry Information

Shelli Sharber, PhD September 24, 2018

Students traditionally receive only the course description and textbook list prior to starting a class. Everything else about the course is learned from the syllabus they get on the first day. But some of the information contained in the syllabus might be valuable to students

A Checklist for Moving Your Course Online

Angela Heath June 2, 2018

A checklist is absolutely essential to moving a face-to-face course online. Not only does it help the instructor conceptualize their course in an online environment, it helps the instructional designer see what needs to be done. Here is a simple guide to preparing to move

How Teaching Online Can Improve Your Face-to-Face Classes

Lolita Paff April 2, 2018

When teachers are tasked with developing an online course, their thinking often follows along these lines: This is what I do in class. How can that be translated online?

What if we reversed our thinking?

Instead of assuming what’s done on ground is ideal, what if we

Three Strategies to Improve Online Course Quality on Your Campus

Brian Udermann August 22, 2017

When talking about online education, quality can be hard to define. This should come as no surprise, though. Institutions have been struggling for years to define quality in face-to-face courses.

Consider this dictionary definition of quality: The standard of something as measured against other things

Checklist for Online Discussion Design and Facilitation

Meixun Sinky Zheng, PhD May 14, 2017

1. Do you ask discussion questions that promote critical thinking?

2. Do you engage students in different types of discussion activities?

3. Do you clearly explain your expectations?

4. Do you provide exemplary and poor discussion post examples to students?

5. Do you handle desirable and

How to Design and Facilitate Online Discussions that Boost Student Learning

Mary Bart May 2, 2017

In an online learning environment, the discussion board is the heart and soul of the course. The posts, queries, responses, and exchanges aren’t just about learning the course content—they also help to humanize the course. The trouble is, of course, that it’s not always easy

online course design