By Rory McGreal, Athabasca University
Course development on the Web is becoming more sophisticated as instructors and course specialists become more familiar with the environment. At present, most development principles for online courses have been derived from what seems to work best in the traditional face-to-face context. However, the Web opens up entirely new possibilities for learning (as well as unique limitations). What follows is a baker’s dozen of development principles that attempt to build on the knowledge-base of distance education and traditional learning, and to adapt both to the online environment and the strengths and weaknesses of software applications. We hope course developers find these principles useful when initiating and supporting online projects.
1. Beg or borrow (steal!) courseware, or learning objects. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Using previously created materials is almost always preferable to creating your own. There is a growing body of learning materials accessible through the World Wide Web. Many of these materials are free, so take advantage of them. Often they must be used "as is," but sometimes adaptation is allowed. Some materials come at a price, but paying for quality materials is almost always cheaper than developing them yourself. If desired course materials are not reasonably priced or are otherwise unobtainable, take the idea and create your own. Remember, ideas can’t be copyrighted, only the specific expression of an idea is protected. Useful sites for accessing learning materials include Merlot, Careo, MIT’s Open Courseware Initiative, Java SIG, and Co-operative Learning Object Exchange.
2. Take what exists and build the course around it. This is a tried-and-true approach to course development. Early universities developed around monasteries or religious study groups, where teachers based their lessons on the Bible or other holy texts. Now, most instructional design manuals insist that you start with a needs-analysis and base course materials on those findings. Instructors can construct relevant courses, or at least relevant course modules, based on available materials without undermining this approach. For example, a Geography instructor might design specific relevant tasks around the simulation game SimCity. Computer-programming instructors can refer students to free online courses on Java programming. Christiansen & Anderson report on three courses at Athabasca University built around available materials [4]. Courses in English and Nursing employed this method, and free materials reportedly were easy to come by. And at least one business course developer we know of has used off-the-shelf proprietary materials successfully [15].
3. Avoid the "not invented here" syndrome. Curriculum specialists, instructional designers, and individual teachers can always find fault with any course materials they evaluate. Turf protection is alive and kicking in most institutions. Nash refers to it also as the "let’s re-invent the wheel" syndrome, claiming that quite often "there are no other factors that dictate an internally developed solution would be superior" [13]. Material developed or chosen by someone else is commonly judged to be inferior. But settling for someone else’s course material that is "good enough" is sometimes better than going to the expense and effort of creating your own "perfect" materials. "Protestant" physics in Quebec is not that different from Italian "Catholic" physics or Turkish physics. Quite often the only people who care are the curriculum specialists themselves, who can spend years arguing over the relative merits of different approaches, techniques, and content.
You may choose to adapt an entire course produced by other institutions; in many cases, a specific module will prove sufficient. Externally produced learning objects can form the component parts of specific modules or larger courses. Often they can serve as alternate pathways to accommodate differing learning styles among the students, facilitate students using different software/hardware configurations, or serve the special needs of learners with disabilities [10].
4. Know the content—garbage in, garbage out. When you choose or create content, make sure that a real content expert is fully involved. Do not depend on non-specialists for content. At the same time, the content specialists should be paired with instructional designers, because good subject-specific content does not necessarily translate into good learning content. Adaptation is necessary. This marriage of content expertise with instructional design know-how forms the primary strength of distance education course development. Add a good Web designer to this team and you have the makings of a solid online course.
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