This document discusses strategies for improving the quality of online courses, including establishing a formal course development process, applying quality standards, providing training and support for instructors, and implementing mentorship programs. Some key points are: - Institutions should have a defined course development process including an initial consultation, media planning, required instructor training, and a final readiness review. - Applying a quality standard like Quality Matters can help ensure alignment, engagement, accessibility and overall quality in course design. - Online mentorship programs where experienced instructors assist new ones can help improve courses while reducing the workload on instructional designers. - Ongoing training, best practices sharing, and observation of course delivery can further support

1. Avoiding Shovelware

2. Innovative Strategies toward Improving Online Course Quality Instructional Designer, Susan J. Clark, PhD Designing for Quality

3. What is Quality?

4. Factors Affecting Course Quality Course design QM REVIEWS THIS Course delivery (i.e. teaching, faculty performance, online facilitation) Course content Course management system Institutional infrastructure Faculty training and readiness Student engagement and readiness

5. Definition Instructional Design is --a planning process for the development of instructional specifications using learning theory and best practices to ensure the quality of instructional materials and activities to meet learning needs.

6. Biggest factor in design quality

7. Typical Time Allotment Activity Time Meet with the Instructional Designer to plan the design of the course or project and to discuss training needs. 2 hrs Develop course objectives, syllabus, and introduction 5 hrs Locate and obtain permission to use resources 5 hrs Plan media production 1 hr Develop content 8 hrs Create Course Shell 1 hr Assemble and organize content into CMS 4 hrs Test course 2 hrs Revise as needed. 2 hrs Additional Activities 0 Total 30 hrs

8. Strategies Ways to promote quality in online courses : Dispel eLearning myths. Determine faculty-developer needs. Promote application of quality standards. Emphasize alignment, engagement, and accessibility. Support online facilitation.

9. Dispel Myths Myth 4: eLearning is quick and easy How is developing eLearning while delivering eLearning like the video clip ?

10. Determine Needs Training Quality Matters (BYOC, IYOC, etc.) CMS use Applications & Tools Pedagogical Objective writing Syllabus construction Test construction, etc.

11. Apply Standards (QM) Alignment Engagement Accessibility

12. How do you design for alignment?

13. Alignment Exercise Write one objective. List an interaction and activity. List the corresponding resources, materials, and technology or media to be used. List one way the objective can be assessed

14. Alignment Worksheet Example http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dggvhhw6_80g6n54chk Learning Objectives Learning Activities Assessment Materials Media Where are students going? What will the students do to get there? How will you know when they get there? What will help the students get there?

15. Design for Learner Engagement

16. How can we plan for learner engagement? “ Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ---Benjamin Franklin

17. SmartPen™ Example

18. Pencast example of John Sweet’s learning object http://tinyurl.com/JSlearningobject1

19. Design for Accessibility (Universal Usability) Universal Design is the "design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design" (Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University). Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) is the application of this construct to college teaching.

20. Readability Example

21. Rules of Thumb

22. Use contrast.

23. Use Chunking Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxx xxx xxxxxx xxx xxxxxx xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx

24. Use a clean font style. This is plain text.

25. Use a scalable font size. Use scalable font size. Use scalable font size. Use scalable font size. Use scalable font size.

26. Make your links look like links. Online Biology Book Vischeck shows you how your website looks to people with color blindness. YouTube video on Web Site Accessibility.

27. Use white space.

28. Use alt tags. <img src=&quot;filename.gif&quot; alt=&quot;Alternative description goes here&quot; >

29. No-no’s

30. Facilitate Online Instruction Managerial Tasks Pedagogical Tasks Social Tasks Technical Tasks http://www.humboldt.edu/~aof/AssessingOnlineFacilitationInstrument.pdf

31. Innovative Strategies toward Improving Online Course Quality Learning Technologies Facilitator Beth Hale Reviewing for Course Readiness

32. Chemeketa’s New Course Development Process Step 1: Initial Consultation Meeting Scheduled with the faculty Tech Hub contact to discuss the development phase, Quality Matters rubric, an overview of the eLearn system, course design, online teaching methods, Tech Hub training and support options, and to schedule future review dates.

33. Chemeketa’s New Course Development Process Step 2: Media Consultation Meeting Consultation with the media specialist as needed for multimedia projects such as video, audio, Adobe Presenter, PowerPoint , Web 2.0 tools, and other methods of incorporating media into online courses.

34. Chemeketa’s New Course Development Process Step 3: New Online Instructor Training Recommended for all new online instructors, and required for faculty receiving curriculum development funding. The eLearn Institute is our comprehensive new instructor training course, and is offered winter and summer terms. Individualized training may be arranged with the Tech Hub.

35. Chemeketa’s New Course Development Process Step 4: Final Course Readiness Review Course is reviewed before the term begins with the Course Readiness Review checklist . A final consultation meeting for faculty and their tech hub contact to discuss the final review and other start-of-term information.

36. SECTION #1 :: COURSE ORIENTATION & DESIGN The overall design of the course, navigational information, as well as course, instructor and student information are made transparent to the student at the beginning of the course Criteria Y / N Comments

37. SECTION #2 :: COMMUNICATION The effective design of instructor-learner interaction, meaningful learner cooperation, and learner-content interaction is essential to learner motivation, intellectual commitment and personal development. Criteria Y / N Comments

38. SECTION #3 :: ASSESSMENT Assessment strategies use established ways to measure effective learning, assess learner progress by reference to stated learning objectives, and are designed as essential to the learning process. Criteria Y / N Comments

39. SECTION #4 :: CONTENT PRESENTATION Instructional materials are designed to be sufficiently comprehensive to achieve announced objectives and learning outcomes and are prepared by qualified persons competent in their fields (Materials, other than standard textbooks produced by recognized publishers, are prepared by the instructor or distance educators skilled in preparing materials for distance learning.) Criteria Y / N Comments

40. Innovative Strategies toward Improving Online Course Quality Instructional Computing Facilitator Greg Kaminski Mentoring for Quality

41. Portland Community College 90,000 students Roughly 22,000 FTE 4 main campuses 15 - 20% of college enrollment online 400 - 450 course sections / term 25 - 30 new or revised courses / term 2 designers – initial process 4 Instructional Technology Specialists to assist

42. Addressing Course Quality Issues New instructor training (online + f2f) “ Online Faculty Mentor” program Best Practices sharing sessions More interactive technology to address different learning styles

43. Course Quality Assessment Prior to 2005: course design checklist Sp 2005: Simplified version of Quality Matters Designer recommends / Dean approves Winter 2007: Quality Matters at “70% level”

44. Results of Review Process Improved course quality, with issues: Huge time commitment for 2 people Difficult to hire a 3rd Large number of old courses never reviewed Limited SME scope

45. Online Faculty Mentor Inspired by “Online Faculty Lead” approach at Front Range Community College, CO 14 online lead faculty cover the disciplines Assist with getting faculty trained, course assignments, course reviews, student advising, development of standards

46. PCC Online Faculty Mentor Pilot “ Online mentor” vs. “Online lead” FT / PT Implied power 6 mentors: cover many disciplines (not enough yet) Responsibilities: Mentor new faculty in related disciplines Course shell selection (takeover course) Course reviews Input on training process Assist with development of standards Compensation: Hourly project rate

47. Results Promising so far: Saving time SME appeal Issues: They don’t always have time Time for follow-up mentoring Many “old” course shells to get to know Getting quick access to shells FT / PT

48. On the Horizon More in-depth mentoring during 1 st term Ways to insure quality of “old” courses Movement toward “core course shells” created by unified team of instructors (with input of the mentor) Process for looking at “delivery” of course in addition to design ( Observation tool ) likely dept. chair instead of mentor

49. Best Practices Sharing Sessions Virtual sessions for instructors to share Elluminate (recorded) Themes Promoting interaction & community Group projects Retention Time management Assessment methods Publisher resources Graphics & multimedia use

50. Avoiding shovelware Direct use of PowerPoint designed for classroom lectures (ineffective online) Add voice through Camtasia Trained by Instructional Support Specialists Time consuming process, but worthwhile for subject that doesn’t change often, e.g. Art History Elluminate for synchronous interaction Wimba Voice Tools for voice introductions, discussions

51. Questions

52. Have Fun!

53. Slideshow URL