Course Design and Conversion for Online Delivery

Digital Learning

Frameworks

There are three common frameworks in designing an effective online course and developing accompanying online teaching materials:

1. Choosing appropriate technology tools that enable students to achieve the learning objectives, using Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy
2. Creating impactful learning that is transformational, using the Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition (SAMR) Model
3. Creating a community of learners, using the Community of Inquiry (COI) Framework. 

Factors to Consider

While key Teaching and Learning principles, such as crafting clear learning objectives, designing effective instructional strategies and assessments that measure learning outcomes remain important, there is a need to reconsider other factors such as changes to course requirements due to the online format, student expectations, affordances of technology and how you can leverage Edtech tools to enhance student learning. Here are some points to consider:

• Check with your school and/or course coordinator on guidelines and expectations for classes. Get support from your peers by discussing common online teaching strategies pertaining to your course.
• Calibrate lesson objectives for continuing instruction: What lesson objectives can be covered during this time period? Should changes be made to lesson objectives and content? What about the pace of the lessons? Can you make some changes to keep students engaged with the course content? Can you make some changes to the assignments to maintain structure and accountability?
• Review your course schedule to determine priorities: Identify your lesson priorities during the disruption: Is it about providing lectures, structuring new opportunities for discussion or group work, collecting assignments, etc. What activities are better rescheduled, and what can or must be done online? Allocate some buffer in the schedule, just in case the situation takes longer to resolve than anticipated.
• Review your assessment milestones: What are possible changes to assignment due dates? Do make sure your assessment plan is aligned to any adjustments made to your course schedule.
• Select tools and approaches familiar to your students: Try to rely on tools and workflows that are familiar to your students and you, and roll out new tools only when absolutely necessary to avoid taxing everyone's mental and emotional energy. If you are planning to use a tool for the first time, do try it out before class to ensure it is compatible with existing platforms.
• Calibrate your expectations for students: Reconsider some of your expectations for students, including class participation and deadlines. As you think through those changes, keep in mind the impact this situation may have on students' ability to meet those expectations. Be ready to handle requests for extensions or accommodations equitably.