Reflections of Course Design

Reflections Of Course Design

It has been a busy semester and we learned so much!  We started by discussing constructive criticism and how we feel about it. I like constructive criticism because it helps me improve and become a better instructor. We discussed the classes we are creating, including overviews, and I enjoyed chatting with my classmates about all our classes, and helping each other. There were three worksheets we completed: non-learner and learner considerations; assessments, and content. Most of the class was connected to these three worksheets.

Design consideration worksheets made us look at any issues, both learner and non-learner issues. We had to identify curriculum design considerations and constraints unique to the online environment, and I did this by looking at many non-learner issues such as technology of the class, and how the developer needs to create the class, so anyone can teach it. Designers need to create so anyone can teach with help such as notes, manuals or tutorials.  I was also able to address learning styles and other student variables when designing an online course by looking at issues such as disabilities and learning styles to create a class with all kinds of learners.  Online classes need to accommodate all types of learners to be successful.  I consider design considerations more of a backbone of a class because it asks the "what if" questions a designer needs to know.

From previous classes, I knew formative assessments measured success early in the class and summative towards the end, and we developed ones that work with our class objectives. We had discussed assessments and objectives before, but never aligned them so that was new. This is important because objectives are what the student needs to know, and assessment is about seeing what they learned and how, and both are essential to a successful class. Once I knew my objectives I selected appropriate strategies for assessing student learning in online courses, and I did this by creating several formative and summative assessments such as discussion posts, blogs, projects, and tests. In general, I think I added more formative assessments because if there is a problem, it can be taken care of before the class progresses and a student gets confused.  One of the objectives for this class, using reflective learning strategies to integrate learning into personal knowledge bases is something I built into several projects by requiring a reflective blog after they did a project. I like reflective blogs since they can show what they learned and how they felt doing so.

We worked on content considerations after assessments, by looking at content presentation, student-content presentation, student-student interaction and student-instructor instruction. I selected strategies for content delivery to support learning objectives by looking at the material I found for each lesson to make sure it fit with the objectives I created. If it did, then I kept it, but if not I either used it as supplemental material or discarded completely. Related to this, I considered designing student-content interactions that will engage students more deeply with course content. I wanted to find material they would like, such as games, videos or articles. I know as a student myself, I don’t like to spend hours reading a boring article, and neither do they. I have seen classmates drop out of programs because of this and wanted to make sure this was decreased or prevented completely.

Designing community-building strategies to improve student retention and enhance learning outcomes was a bit challenging and it was accomplished by creating an environment where the students interact with the material, the other students and the instructor. Probably the best way I created a community was to require discussion posts where each student gives feedback to another in a way that was constructive. I also assigned a group project that will require students to work together. Discussion posts to me are the best way to design student-student interactions and collaborative experiences for online courses, but not the only. I feel the group project is a good idea, along with a thread just for students to discuss anything they feel. Besides students, I needed to incorporate student-faculty interaction into online course design and decided to interact with students from the beginning. I will make announcements every week and create posts, either to respond to them or to start a post. In addition, I will make sure that they know how to get back to me. Students need the interactions to know how they are doing and what they can do to improve.

Once everything came together, I looked at best practice standards and how to apply them to the design and evaluation of online courses. This was probably the hardest because it incorporates everything we studied this semester and bringing it all together to create a class. We looked at a rubric and reviewed this class using it. However, this was a good assignment because then we can use it for any class we are creating to see if it achieves the standards we want or will be required to meet.

While all parts were challenging and informative, my favorite part of the class was the content section because I considered what material to place in my class. For example, I plan to use videos, and create original material and look forward to this. My least favorite was probably the non-learner and learner design consideration because I had to consider so many other factors besides creativity.  In this class I had to look at any questions that would arise both with students and the class itself and how to deal with them. I thought of how I could test student to see what they should learn and what they should learn. I realized that the content is important and what to include in the class and how to align with what they should learn, and how to make them interact with the material, each other and me. I then analyzed all of it to begin the process of creating a new class and what how to judge all of it. It was a lot of work, but I made it through and now onto my final class, so I can receive my certificate and put my skills to use.