Timeline - University College
While the process for online course development is nearly the same all classes on campus, the timeline to develop them differs for University College summer classes than from classes for the Graduate school. University College online classes are traditionally offered during the summer session and need to be reviewed prior to student registration. As such development begins in the fall semester to meet a deadline of February 1st for submission to be reviewed.
University College Online Courses
September
The instructor, as the content expert, collaborates with the instructional designer to develop a strategy to develop online course content and sound online instructional practices
Items Discussed
- Begin to schedule a course development timeline
- Consider potential student demographic
- Develop course objectives
- Look into potential learning activities
- Consider various online assessment strategies
- Begin narrowing the course technical specifications (and this will mean hardware/software/Internet connectivity as well as student skills)
- Look at building off the existing course syllabus
- Look at building off the existing course content
- Examine different potential course structures (Organizing content by Day, Week or Topic)
Items Produced
- Course Development timeline
- Course Objectives
- Assessment Strategy
- Create a course site for development
October
First online lesson is completed. Course structure, Objectives and Assessment plan established. Student work flow is clear and easily communicated.
Items Discussed
- Develop a student to instructor interaction plan
- Develop a student to student interaction plan
- Look into potential course materials and content
- Daily and Weekly student "work flow"
Items Produced
- Course outline and Structure
- Develop a daily and weekly Student "work flow"
- List course content that needs to be produced (Audio recordings, etc.)
- Design student to instructor interaction plan
- First learning module completed
November
Course content development continues adhering to the established course structure and initial module design.
Items Discussed
Discuss the integration of external sites and sources. (You Tube, reference web sites, etc.)
Items Produced
- Following the student to instructor interaction plan, integrate interactive elements into course design (Discussion Forums, etc.)
- Multimedia elements are produced (Audio podcasts, etc.)
- External sites and resources are collected
December
Development continues. Considering finals and the vacation scheduling, December is limited to continued development.
January
Incorporate required technical information - conduct final edits
Items Discussed
Outstanding issues with design or content
Items Produced
- Mapping back to the course objectives, Course Assessments are built
- All technical requirements are posted for the students in the course
- Course Syllabus is posted along with faculty introduction
- A student introduction forum is built
February 1
Submit for OCRT review. Review and address the suggested changes submitted by OCRT into the existing course design.
March
Complete course development. Begin training on specific functionality in BlueLine as needed.