course design teaching tips advantages and disadvantages

•Course Design•Teaching Tips•Advantages and Disadvantages

1. Start early with course redesign.

2. Focus on course goals/objectives, not technology.

3. Determine if it works best Onsite or Online.

4. Blend!

Provide substantial amount of lead time to migrate your traditional course to hybrid format. ◦suggested = one semester

Use TAC Hybrid Certification Workshops to work on yourcourse.

Start with your Course Content Summary goals and objectives.

Redesign your learning objectives one assignment at a time, according to what works well online and/or onsite for you.

Experiment in a live traditional class: ◦ Test out which assignments work better online

or onsite at least one semester in advance.

Examples:◦ Are your lectures better live or in PowerPoint?◦ Will your students do better Peer Reviews if

they are in person with eye contact/body language or they are online with more time to think and write?

Design course content learning activities to be interwoven online and onsite.

Create blending that increases students’ sense of continuity through sequence of logical steps.

Avoid assigning online work that seems “tacked on.”

Organically blend materials and activities.

ExamplesBegin new unit onsite and continue next step of instruction with online activity, or vice versa.

Ex: Onsite lecture introduces content. Follow up

with Online discussion forum for student feedback.

Ex: Online reading + partner discussion. Follow up with Onsite quiz.

1. Don’t Procrastinate!

2. Teach Technology to Students.

3. Anticipate Student Problems.

Be prompt with feedback to students.

Don’t let online assignments-to-be-graded stack up.

Tweak problems in your Blackboard site as you become aware of them.Don’t wait until later.

Teach technology orientation on first day or two of class.

Walk your students through online discussions in class.

First day of class – establish your expectations, policies, online attendance.

Explain difference between hybrid and

traditional course.

Explain importance of online portion of course.

Repeat how important online portion of course is!

Contact immediately students who are not doing online work.

Advantages Disadvantages

Course Redesign gives fresh perspective on content

Learn new technologies

Get to know students in a different way online

Increase in student participation

Big time commitment to development course

Time commitment in grading/running course

Technology frustrations

Less face-to-face contact

Advantages Disadvantages

Provides different formats for learning; learning may be “deeper,” higher quality

More interactivity w/instructor & classmates

Flexibility for busy schedules

Lower transportation costs

Perceptions that Hybrids are easier

Perception of lower quality education

Technology trouble Poor time management

can be a problem

~some material from Denise Ogden, Penn State, Lehigh