Richard A. Smith and Caroline M. Crawford from the University of Houston-Clear Lake presented on simplifying online course design. Their presentation focused on using a course management system like Blackboard or Moodle to provide the foundation and scaffolding for an online course. They emphasized designing the online course to make it easy for students to follow, minimize requests for assistance, and keep the teaching time close to that of a face-to-face course.

1. Simplifying Online Course Design
September 21, 2011
MAGNA PUBLICATIONS PRESENTS:
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2. Sponsored by:
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3. Our presenters:
Richard A. Smith, Ph.D.
&
Caroline M. Crawford, Ed.D.
School of Education
University of Houston-Clear
Lake
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4. A Few Basics
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5. Creating A Distance
Education Course
Let’s assume the use of a
course management
system (CMS)
– Blackboard
– Moodle
– Sakai
– Etc.
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6. CMS Purpose
Provides the course foundation,
skeleton, and scaffolding
– It contains the course
– Provides for content pages
– Audio selections
– Video selections
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7. Online Course Designer
Basic Objectives
• Make course easy for students to
follow
• Minimize student “request for
assistance” email
• Keep “teaching time” close to
the time you invest in a f2f course
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