You have designed the learning activities, and now need to incorporate them into an online course. This workshop will explore how to design and develop your Vista course using an activity-based framework. At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
The way your online course is structured does much to support or hinder the learner as they navigate through it. There is a tendency, when creating online structures, to organise information according to the structure of the information, rather than the needs of the user. As you are considering how the content of the course will be presented, keep in mind what you are asking the students to do, and how you can best direct that pathway through the activity design and the course layout.
This link that shows the application of theoretical models to online learning environments may help you to ensure that the required learning processes are included in your design: http://technologysource.org/extra/426/table/1/
In WebCT Vista, Learning Modules can be used to help structure learning pathways. Learning modules may contain links to content files, discussions, quizzes, assignments, web links – or any other tool available in Vista. This can be quite powerful, as it is no longer necessary for students to divert from course content in order to participate in a discussion or do a self-test – they all exist in the same context. In this way the content of the course need no longer be seen as separate from the learning activities – they are integrated. Another advantage of Learning modules is that they are able to be exported for use in other Vista courses.
Learning modules do, however, assume a linear learning pathway, which may not be appropriate for your learning design. A course structure that allows free lateral navigation can be created using Organiser pages in Vista – these act like a series of home pages, which house different aspects or topics within the course. In each organiser, you can still have links to content files, discussions, quizzes, assignments, web links etc, but they are no longer arranged in a linear path.See Selecting Course tools and Components
This link from Penn State university on developing an online course may be useful while you are finalising your ideas for the structure and content of your course: http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/research/index.shtml
You will see that this site recommends creating a storyboard of your course. This is a way of visualising where the course components will go and how the navigation will work. Other approaches to visualising your plan may be with a planning template, a flowchart or a sitemap. While software may be used to create these documents, it is equally effective to use pencil and paper, or re-arrangeable sticky notes.
The design of the course home page is critical in giving the student a feeling of what the course is about, what resources are available to support them, and where they should go to complete the course activities or find information about the course. If there is a lot of content, it may be useful to provide a graphical organiser for the course – this could be based on your flowchart.
Always remember that it is ‘what the student does’ that is critical to their learning experience, and make access to learning activities the focal point. If students are inexperienced in online work consider creating an orientation activity, that will familiarise the students with the environment and tools, and provide a socialisation element if the students will be working collaboratively online.
WebCT Vista is much more limited than a conventional web page in the options for layout of the page. However, use of icons, colours, link titles and descriptions, as well as their placement on the page, will influence how it appears to the student. Bear in mind that keeping the homepage uncluttered, rather than providing all links at the top level, will enhance navigation. The toolbar in Vista can be used for providing the student with one-click access to frequently used tools such as discussions or the course calendar.
It is of great benefit to users of Vista - both teachers and students - if there is consistency in the way courses are designed, structured and implemented. The system is flexible enough to allow individual teachers to edit and customise their course, while working with a basic design that provides:
Working in this way can greatly reduce the time that a teacher needs to spend in setting up a course, while enhancing usability for students.
EDTeC has created four basic templates which can be used by Faculties or Schools as the basis for their own templates. They are similar in design but vary in the structure of learning activities.
Each template contains a basic structure of course introduction, resources and learning activities. The resources include links to useful support sites for students and teachers. For learning activities the use of Learning modules is recommended - these provide a structured pathway where students can access learning material, activities such as evaluations (quizzes), discussions and assignments, and links to resources. All template elements are fully editable – nothing is locked down.
Here is an overview of and guidelines for using the Institutional templates: http://www.edtec.unsw.edu.au/template_guide.htm.
There are institutional resources available for Vista courses, such as a generic banner, which can be customised for your school, alternative icon sets, and evaluation question sets. When in the Vista file manager, go to the ‘UNSW shared resources’ folder to find these files. The Institutional templates also contain links to technical and academic support for students.
Skills workshops
You may feel you would like to know more about how to approach teaching online, or about specific Vista tools. There are advanced workshops available in a range of topics, either with an enhanced learning focus (eg A Blended Approach to Collaborative Learning) or a software tools focus (eg Creating assignments and group activities in Vista). You may wish to participate in one or more of these before finalising your course plan. We are currently planning a workshop schedule, so let us know if you are interested in any of the available topics, or contact us to discuss your education and support requirements. An overview of the workshops that are currently available or planned is available at: http://www.edtec.unsw.edu.au/pdf/EducationAndSupport.pdf
Self-help
Apart from the workshop handouts you have received, there are resources such as links to relevant articles, and other useful web links, available in the ‘Blended Approach’ module. Resources particularly applicable to the planning phase are available in the online module.
There are also some online self-help resources available on the EDTeC website, in areas such as Flexible education, Web and media production and Web accessibility. Please go to: http://www.edtec.unsw.edu.au/frames_inter.cfm?area=1&page=supportsites_main.cfm
Tools
In addition to the tools available in WebCT Vista, you may find other tools that will be useful in developing and presenting your online course. EDTeC supports the use of Respondus for quiz development, myMedia for uploading and streaming media, Lectopia (previously iLecture) for providing recordings of lectures online and the U21 Learning Resource Catalogue for the sharing of teaching resources. Please go to http://elearning.unsw.edu.au for more information. There may be other online tools available (eg, for peer reviewing) that would be useful for you or your students – please ask us if you need help in identifying or using such tools.
Resources
We have identified some useful development resources to help you build your course, but what resources will the students need to complete the course? When considering development requirements, remember that you may be able to find resources online, in addition to (or instead of) developing your own (see Using Existing Course Materials in the online module). Others may need to be developed, either by you, or by specialist production staff. If you do develop your own resources, consider how to design them to be reusable in other courses, rather than specific to one course.
EDTeC can offer limited free production support, if you need help in creating graphics or other web media. Substantial production projects can be taken on by EDTeC for a fee.
The Vista Media Library allows you to link to many kinds of media, to make links to online resources or to provide a course glossary. If you plan to use Learning Modules to structure your course, this media can be integrated into your content.
DISCUSSION: In your group, discuss the tools and resources you have considered for use in your course. Can you suggest any tools or resources that others in your group may be able to use?
Now you have a plan for the elements you wish to include in your course, and how they will be used, you need to identify any training or production needs that must be addressed before building your course. Create a checklist for yourself, looking at requirements for skills, tools and resources. Don’t forget to consider both your development needs, and the students’ learning needs. If you need substantial production work done, a project plan that incorporates a timeline would be useful.
Use the Production checklist template, or create your own.
Your specific development requirements can be individually discussed either in this workshop or online. During this period you will design your course structure, and identify any resources and skills you require, before returning for Workshop 3 - Building an Online Course in WebCT Vista. We will be available for any consultation you need in developing your course plan.
University of Alberta - Guide to distributed learning environments - http://www.atl.ualberta.ca/documents/webbased/dleweb/index.htm
An introduction to theories of learning: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/index.htm
Illinois Online Network - A selected assortment of online education resources: http://www.ion.illinois.edu/resources/