Course A
Content: This course will cover
beginning college algebra.
Instructor(s): This course is
taught by various adjunct and full time professors who are very familiar with
the content who have differing degrees of tech skills and online teaching
experience. The same class has to serve for all instructors.
Students: All students in this
course are college freshman and sophomores with good technology skills and each
has successfully taken an online orientation to online learning course.
One issue I would have to deal with is the difference in
tech skills and online teaching experience of both adjunct and full-time
professors. Every professor has their
own teaching style and ways they feel is best for their students, so to expect
that all professors will be able to utilize the same online tool to teach a
class they are familiar is unrealistic.
For example, a professor with previous online teaching experience might
feel standalone e-learning is a more effective technique to teach students the
coursework but a professor that rarely teaches an online class might feel a
virtual classroom might work out better.
Luckily, Horton (2012) outlines an essentialist approach that could help
find a common ground for lessons, topics, activities, and Medias so every
faculty member can feel confident teaching the new course.
Another issue I see is the willingness and motivate of
student to learn subject matter. Math is
a boring and difficult subject to learn even in a face-to-face setting, so my challenge
would be to find a solution that will not only engage the student but create a
learning environment that truly provokes thought and retains the knowledge.
Course B
Content: The course is a philosophy
of leadership class.
Instructor(s): The instructor is an
experienced face-to-face instructor with good tech skills and prior online
teaching experience. This instructor prefers lecture and discussion classes.
Students: Graduate students who are
well motivated and with a broad range of technology skills, from average to
very advanced.
The two main issues that would impact my design are the
content of the class and the preferences of the professor. If the professor would rather teach in a
face-to-face classroom where lecturing and having a discussion with his/ her
students is convenient, then I would have to create an environment that is
comfortable for him/ her. But my
ultimate goal is for the students to be able to learn and understand the
philosophy of leadership, and by the end of the course feel changed because
this course has taught them something.
So I am faced with the difficult task of creating an online experience
that will teach the skills and principles of a leader. Even though the learners are graduate
students, I believe there are some subjects and true learning will begin when
these students see these principles modeled in a leader so they can build
associations and identify those characteristics in the future.
Course C
Content: This course is an
introduction to college success. It teaches study skills, communication skills,
and tries to help students learn how to fit into the college community.
Instructor(s): This course will be
taught by various instructors all with good tech skills and prior online
teaching experience but who have never taught this content before.
Students: Students are incoming
freshman who have been identified by advisors as high risk for drop out.
Two main issues in this scenario are: 1) the instructors
have never taught this content before and 2) students lack of motivation, their
ability to learn the material, and what their needs might be. These issues directly influence my design in
terms of what material/ lessons are taught and what media(s) in order to accommodate
the needs of both the instructors and the students. Since the instructors are not familiar with
the course and the students are high risk for dropping out, the design of course
is extremely important. Because these
students have been identified as “high risk for dropping out” the design of
this course must be able to cater to a diverse group of students as well as
motivate the students to learn and develop the skills necessary to success at
community college. Not only does the material have to be engaging but it also
has to fit the learning needs of the students and meet the teaching criteria
for the instructors.
2. Now, think about an online learning experience
that you might someday create. Describe in detail the content, instructor and
student characteristics. What are the design issues or features that these
suggest? Explain your answers.
Guidance Course:
Content:
This course is a guidance course at a community college. It teaches students to understand the roadmap
of community college: how to register for classes according to their Educational
Plan, how to transfer into to a 4-year university, earn an Associate’s Degree,
and how to utilize all the resources available to them.
Instructor:
This course will be taught by experience face-to-face counselors with little to
no online teaching experience but have taught the content before.
Students:
Students that have been attended college for over 5 years and have not
transferred or earned a degree.
Some
of the design issues in this course are the online teaching experience of the
counselors, and motivation of the students to work towards graduation or
transferring. My design has to be fairly
simple for both instructors and students, so that any counselor (with or
without previous online teaching experience) can instruct the class and teach a
diverse group of community college students.
More importantly, my design has to be adaptive because it is inevitable
for students to change their minds about their major or career goals.
3. List the 11 instructional design steps presented
in chapter 1 of the text (Design Quickly and Reliably).
1. Identify
your underlying goal
2. Analyze
learners’ needs and abilities
3. Identify
what to teach
4. Set
learning objectives
5. Identify
prerequisites
6. Pick
the approach to meet each objective
7. Decide
the teaching sequence of your objectives
8. Create
objects to accomplish objectives
9. Create
tests
10. Select
learning activities
11. Choose
media
Source:
Horton,
W. (2011). E-Learning by Design, 2 edition.
Newberry,
Brian.Webpage Lecture. 26 September 2012.
