Self-Guided Online Course Design and Development

"How can I make a meaningful connection with my students?"
"What do I want my students to learn?"
"Which activities will help me create a robust and interactive online learning environment?"
The 5 Steps of the Design Phase will help you answer these and other common questions as you create the foundational documents and plan for your new course.
[ Click ON THE steps BELOW to expand detail ]Step 1: Organize Course Information
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Use the Course Design Plan as you complete Steps 2 through 4. The Course Design Plan makes it easy to map out your entire course week by week and define what you want your students to learn. It also helps plan the best online activities, chose the most relevant materials, and design the most appropriate assessments for your new online course. This completed document will play a major role in helping you finalize your syllabus and guiding you as you build your course in Phase 2.
- Download Course Design Plan (.doc)
For other delivery modes: Flipped Course Design Plan or Blended Course Design Plan- View Completed Course Design Plan Example (.doc)
- Download eCampus' Syllabus Template
- View Completed Online Course Syllabus Example [Summer 2014] (.docx)
- Email ecampus@uconn.edu and request access to the sample course "eCampus_Sample_PSYCH2300." This course was developed from the sample Course Design Plan and uses the Syllabus Example linked above. We encourage you to review the sample course, Completed Couse Design Plan and Syllabus Example together.
- Download Course Design Plan (.doc)
Step 2: Develop Learning Objectives
- Use your Course Design Plan to define what you want your students to learn. This information is captured as course and module learning objectives that will help you design your course (activities, content, materials, assessments). By designing your course around what you want students to learn, you will be more efficient as you build out the rest of your course creating only the activities and content necessary
for success. You will also ensure that your students know exactly what you expect of them increasing the chances that they will be successful in meeting your expectations.
- Visit our knowledge base for a brief article on writing course and module level learning objectives.
- Insert your objectives into the Course Design Plan provided in Step 1.
Step 3: Plan an Assessment Strategy
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Use your Course Design Plan to design assessments that will directly measure whether students have learned and can meet course learning objectives. Ensure alignment of assessments with the objectives you created in Step 2. Keep in mind the unique nature of online learning and recognize that in person assessment methods do not always translate well to the online environment.
- Plan Assessments
- Insert your assessment strategies into the Course Design Plan provided in Step 1.
Step 4: Design Instructional Materials and Activities
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Use your Course Design Plan to select the best kinds of activities to meet the objectives you have defined, design and/or choose supporting course materials, and plan opportunities for students to interact with each other, with you, and with the content you have selected.
- Choose Activities and Materials:
- Videos, Lecture Capture, Voice-Over PowerPoint, Screen Casts, Podcasts
- Discussion Posts
- Individual and Group Assignments
- Journals
- Blogs and Wikis
- Collaborative Activities in Google Apps
- Electronic Course Reserves through the UConn Libraries
NOTE: Course Reserves are in transition. See the Library site for status and details. - Review Sample UConn Online Courses requested in Step 1
- Insert your instructional materials and activities into the Course Design Plan provided in Step 1.
Step 5. Review and Evaluate
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During this phase, use the Quality Matters Workbook to evaluate how well you have met the following standards:
- Learning Objectives (Standards 2.1-2.5)
- Assessment and Measurement (Standards 3.1-3.5)
- Instructional Materials (4.1-4.6)
- Course Activities and Learner Interaction (5.1-5.4)
If you haven't yet, request the Quality Matters Workbook by emailing ecampus@uconn.edu
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