Topic outline

  • Introduction

    Course introduction image

  • Week 1 - Module 1:

    Highlighted

    Getting Started

    Pages: 3 File: 1 Forums: 6
    Progress: 0 / 0

  • Week 2 - Module 2:

    Creating a course blueprint

    There are a few things you should look into before you start to work on a course plan for your online or blended course. These may include determining the essential intent for the course, who the students may be and how they will access the course. You will explore these issues and a few others in this module.

    Study time

    After you work through this module, you will be able to:

    1. Define the key learner characteristics (audience profile) for a specific course.
    2. Determine the essential intent for a specific course.
    3. Create a course assessment strategy for a specific course, aligned with the course intent. 
    4. Based on audience profile, existing infrastructure (technical, physical) and available budget, delineate a learner support strategy for a specific course.

    Study time

    Recommended study time: 9 hours over a period of 1 week.

    Book: 1 Assignment: 1
    Progress: 0 / 0

  • Week 3 - Module 3:

    Quality and Learning

    In this module you will reflect on how a quality framework informed by best practices will impact the quality of your course design.

    Learning Objectives

    After you work through this module, you will be able to:

    1. Create a quality framework for online and blended course design based on agreed upon best practices.
    2. Define the most appropriate teaching and learning approaches for a specific course based on best practices, learner and institutional data.

    Study time

    Recommended study time: 3 hours over a period of 1 week.

    Book: 1 Forum: 1 Assignment: 1
    Progress: 0 / 0

  • Weeks 4 and 5 - Module 4:

    Creating a course plan

    In the last two modules you did a lot of the high level thinking in terms of the context of your course and you lay the groundwork to get started with the more concrete planning stage as you developed a course blueprint. This module is organized into two main topics:

    1. Planning for Alignment and Engagement: a book that will guide you throught planning learner engagement activities as you streamline learning objectives and draft assessment and self-assessment strategies.
    2. Course Structure: Content and Resources: a book that will guide you through sequencing the content, identifying learning resources and creating a course structure.
    Learning Objectives icon

    After you work through this section, you will be able to:

    1. Write effective learning objectives according to Blooms Taxonomy, aligned with course intent.
    2. Determine the learning activities that will facilitate the attainment of each learning objective.
    3. Plan assessment and/or self-assessment events that will demonstrate the attainment of the learning outcomes.
    4. Create a topic outline for the course (structure and sequencing), organized in major topics and subtopics, aligned with the learning objectives.
    5. Use Open Educational Resources to support teaching and learning in blended and online courses.
    6. Interpret the scope of use of OERs and learning objects licensed through Creative Commons (CC)
    7. Login to Moodle, access a course, edit profile and settings for a specific course.
    8. Create a specific structure for a course in Moodle based on an initial course plan.
    9. Explain the functionality of each editing icon available in Moodle.

    Study time icon

    Recommended study time: 9 hours over a period of 2 weeks.

    Books: 2 Forums: 4 Assignment: 1 Labels: 2 URLs: 7
    Progress: 0 / 0

  • Weeks 6, 7 and 8 - Module 5:

    Creating your course

    The planning is done: learning objectives are in place, you have an idea of what learning activities you will be doing to engage your learners and you know how you will be assessing the learning throughout the course. You have a course structure in place and you started to think about ways in which you can present your content online. Well then, it is now time to start creating the content, the activities, the assessments and self-assessments learners will interact with in the LMS.

    This section is organised into three main topics:

    1. Creating vs. Adapting Course Content: a book that guides you through the process of adapting and/or creating content pages.
    2. Assessment, Quizzes and Gradebook: a book that guides you through creating assessment events in Moodle as well as marking and setting up the student gradebook.
    3. Engagement Activities: a book that guides you through the creation of engagement activities, such as discussions and project work, as well as student assessment.

    So, let's get started...

    Learning Objectives icon

    After you work through this section, you will be able to:

    1. Create and/or adapt existing content that integrates contextual and meaningful learning activities to support active learning.
    2. Integrate existing OERs into the course content.
    3. Develop at least two assessment or self-assessment events for a given course, aligned with the learning objectives.
    4. Structure at least one group project for a given course topic, aligned with learning objectives.
    5. Create a rubric for a chosen assessment event based on a given example.
    6. Add the most appropriate Moodle resources to build a specific course (webpages, links, etc.) based on your course plan.
    7. Set up discussion forums in Moodle based on your course plan.
    8. Create quizzes (assessment and self-assessment events) and assignments as well as their respective submission boxes according to your course plan.

    Study time icon

    Recommended study time: 21 hours over a period of 3 weeks.

    Books: 3 Labels: 9 Assignments: 3 Forum: 1 URLs: 30
    Progress: 0 / 0

  • Week 9 - Module 6:

    Teaching your course

    Your course is ready to go, so now it is time to focus on how will you engage your learners in the learning process. It is somewhat easy when you are in a classroom environment as your learners are right there, you can read their body language and engage them one-on-one. In an online environment, instructors have to be aware of the importance of keeping learners motivated throughout the course. This section explores issues of motivation and strategies for online engagement.

    Learning Objectives icon

    After you work through this section, you will be able to:

    1. Select the most appropriate learner engagement strategies and techniques for a specific course context.
    2. Model moderation and motivation techniques while facilitating a group discussion.
    3. Develop a course orientation module for a specific online and/or blended course.

    Study time icon

    Recommended study time: 6 hours over a period of 1 week.

    Book: 1 Label: 1 Forum: 1 Assignment: 1
    Progress: 0 / 0