Avoiding Shovelware

Avoiding Shovelware

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Innovative Strategies toward Improving Online Course Quality

Instructional Designer, Susan J. Clark, PhD

Designing for Quality

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What is Quality?

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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

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DefinitionInstructional 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.

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Biggest factor in design quality

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Typical Time AllotmentActivity 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 hrs7

StrategiesWays 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.

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Dispel Myths Myth 4: eLearning is quick and easy

How is developing eLearning while delivering eLearning like the video clip?

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Determine Needs• Training

– Quality Matters (BYOC, IYOC, etc.)– CMS use– Applications & Tools

• Pedagogical– Objective writing– Syllabus construction– Test construction, etc.

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Apply Standards (QM)

• Alignment• Engagement• Accessibility

How do you design for alignment?

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Alignment Exercise

1. Write one objective.2. List an interaction and activity.3. List the corresponding resources,

materials, and technology or media to be used.

4. List one way the objective can be assessed

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Alignment Worksheet Example

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?

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http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dggvhhw6_80g6n54chk

Design for Learner Engagement

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How can we plan for learner engagement?

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

---Benjamin Franklin

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SmartPen™ Example

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Pencastexample of John

Sweet’s learning object

http://tinyurl.com/JSlearningobject1

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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.

Readability Example

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Rules of Thumb

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Use contrast.

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Use ChunkingXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxx

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

• xxx xxxxxx• xxx xxxxxx• xxx xxxxxx

xxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Use a clean font style.

This is plain text.

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Use a scalable font size.

Use scalable font size.



Use scalable font size.25

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.

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Use white space.

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Use alt tags.<img src="filename.gif" alt="Alternative description goes here">

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No-no’s

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Facilitate Online Instruction

• Managerial Tasks• Pedagogical Tasks• Social Tasks• Technical Tasks

http://www.humboldt.edu/~aof/AssessingOnlineFacilitationInstrument.pdf

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Learning Technologies Facilitator Beth Hale

Reviewing for Course Readiness

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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.


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.


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.


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.

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SECTION #1 :: COURSE ORIENTATION & DESIGNThe 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

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SECTION #2 :: COMMUNICATIONThe effective design of instructor-learner interaction, meaningful learner cooperation, and learner-content interaction is essential to learner motivation, intellectual commitment and personal development.


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SECTION #3 :: ASSESSMENTAssessment 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.


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SECTION #4 :: CONTENT PRESENTATIONInstructional 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.)



Instructional Computing Facilitator Greg Kaminski

Mentoring for Quality

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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

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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

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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”

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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

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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

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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

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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

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On the Horizon• More in-depth mentoring during 1st

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

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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

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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

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Questions

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Have Fun!

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Slideshow URL

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Avoiding Shovelware

Education

design quality

course readiness

course objectives

course delivery

course shell

new online instructor

online courses

design of products