Developing an online course include many challenges but it also opens lots of possibilities for engaging students in their learning. This review examines related literatures about online course design and identifying the important elements in developing a good online course. The findings point out the importance of providing multiple communication channels among students and instructors. The students’ own motivation and self-determination are key for satisfying results in an online course which is strengthened by timely feedback, rewards, and encouragement. The learning happens through realistic tasks, problem solving, games, narratives, discussions and self-reflection. The usage of short videos with compelling visuals instead of longer lecture recordings are advocated. The researcher hopes that instructional designers and faculty members can use this study to improve their future online courses and feel less overwhelmed by the task. In general, theoretical researches all point out the importance of course design model and the elements included in the model. On the actual situation, however, there is difficulty for the teachers to design online courses with adopting the instructional design model. While reviewing from the literature, we find that the scholars have already begun to develop a simplifying conceptual model. This model will help the novice designers to take on the heavy responsibility of course design. Key Words: course design, online course, course development
Overview Effective online courses are well designed so that teaching and learning is organized in the most effective and engaging manner possible. In an online learning situation, the student’s learning experience is almost entirely mediated through some form of technology; therefore, the design of the teaching and learning experience is especially critical. The purpose of this study is to review literatures related to developing an online learning course. The literatures being reviewed will explain and show how to successfully create an engaging online course to help online learning instructors. This topic is relevant due to the substantial interest in online learning and the increased use of electronic educational technology in learning and teaching at universities, and other organizations. Mixing traditional teaching with online resources is great as you can use the best of both worlds, but they lack the potential of a totally online course in availability and flexibility. This literature review focuses on the development of an online course to help specifically the online learning instructors in designing online lessons for their distance learning students.
Theoretical Framework To develop a good and engaging online course it is essential to identify the key components of an online course. The purpose of this thesis is to find the elements that make up an engaging online course, according to previous studies. The review of literature is divided into four parts: (1) Effective Online Teaching Practices (2) Effective Learning Practices (3) Online Course Design and (4) The Course Design Process. The Effective Online Teaching Practices is based on Bailey (2014) eight pedagogical practices that are considered to be highly effective in practice namely: (1) establishing connections; (2) engagement; (3) timeliness; (4) communications; (5) organization; (6) technology; (7) flexibility; (8) performance. The second part is effective learning practices with literatures focusing on learning strategies and assisting learners to develop the desired skills. Online Course Design is based on the studies of Carr-Chellman and Duchastel (2015) which identified the two elements for an ideal online course: content and technology. The course design process is based on Keengwe (2015) in which they identified five phases: (a) course plan; (b) course design; (c) course implementation; (d) course assessment; (f) course review.
Review of the Literature This review of literature covers (a) Effective Online Teaching Practices; (b) Effective Online Learning Practices; (c) Online Course Design; and (d) The Course Design Process. These literatures have set the foundation of this inquiry and offer further insights regarding the development of an online course.
Effective Online Teaching Practices Bailey and Card (2016) identified eight effective practices to consider in developing an online course: (a) establishing connections; (b) engagement; (c) timeliness; (d) communications; (e) organization; (f) technology; (g) flexibility; and (h) performance. Bailey (2014) believed that developing good relationships and communication between teachers and students is essential in developing a good online course. Communication plays a significant role in the online learning process so it is suggested that teachers should be always swift in responding to students` learning needs. A good online teacher is someone who understands the learning needs of students, easy to contact, flexible, and gives advice and feedback to improve students` work. It is important that online teachers will develop strategies and skills that would help students to be creative and problem solvers. These methods include showing by example, coaching students, and guiding students through exploration and problem-solving (Boling et al., 2014). Students` learning can be developed using a range of different activities. Media is a very effective tool in online courses that will help students gain more understanding of a concept or idea and will eventually help them investigate more and solve real-life problems. Likewise, Yengin et al. (2015) recommends that teachers appoint students to activities like reading, discussing, and writing, and not only listening to the instructor. They want to put the emphasis on developing students’ skills and letting the students explore their own values and attitudes. Competitions, games, and awards can be implemented to boost motivation and social interaction (Yengin et al., 2015). To improve the quality of online teaching and learning, Keengwe and Kidd (2015) suggested that online teachers have well-planned strategies for creating and using required resources, planning for activities, creating timelines, and related tasks. It is very important for the online teacher to be the facilitator in the learning process. Other essential elements include course development and design, planning of online lessons and activities, setting up deadlines of submissions of assignments, providing help and assistance in using the course management system and the required technologies. It is also important that online teachers have to carefully plan the learning instructions and specific technologies to be used in the online course. One essential factor that can also help to develop an effective online course is the development of the social and intellectual aspects of the learner. Social development can help the learner develop connections and relationships to one another. The teacher can create situations that enables the learner to interact socially with other learners and at the same time solve real-life problems to develop his critical thinking and cognitive skills. Swan (2015) explained that the learner`s performance can be influenced by the social interactions especially if the online instructor acts as the facilitator in the online learning environment. Trust and support is also essential in developing an online course. Wang (2013) explained that it is very important to establish and build trust in the distance learning setting. In order to build trust among online students, Wang (2013) suggested the following elements: knowing the student`s background, ready to help and assist on student`s needs, caring for students, giving advice and encouragement, and various support to students as needed. Choosing the right teachers for online learning is essential in order to be effective in its implementation. Crawford-Ferre (2014) recommended that online teachers should have relevant trainings and workshops on online course designs and development. These trainings and workshops should be focused more on the development of online course materials, assessment methods, developing collaborative activities, and related topics to enhance the online instruction. Instructors in the online class should also be trained in the proper choice and use of technologies for effective instructions, the proper use of features in the course management system, and learning to troubleshoot basic technical issues regarding the CMS and gradebook systems. Crawford-Ferre (2014) further observed that many of the online teachers are not trained by their respective schools, thus, are not competent enough to be effective online instructors. Online instructors also struggle with issues regarding interaction and engagement as they seek to cultivate a community of learners in the virtual environment (Reisetter, 2015). Several studies have found that new online instructors feel disconnected from their students due to the lack of visual feedback and the more formal nature of text-based communications (Huang & Hsiao, 2015). To help mitigate the digital divide, many instructors begin to experiment with tools that enable them to incorporate more audio and visual forms of media into their courses, humanizing an otherwise sterile learning environment. Though this may seem straightforward, novice instructors tend to find such experimentation to be unnerving They are used to being the infallible authority in the classroom and are reluctant to accept the uncertainty, vulnerability, and exposure inherent in experimentation, fearing that it would make them appear inept (Pacansky- Brock, 2013).
Effective Online Learning Practices Rao and Tanners (2014) observed that many students favored taking online courses because of its convenience and easy access. Most of these students are busy individuals who want to pursue their advanced careers and the only way to make this possible is through online learning. They believed that the desired learning skills needed can be learned through online instructions which are carefully designed and planned for their specific learning needs. Students` online interactions can enrich their learning experiences through the help of an online instructor that facilitates the online learning process. Brindley, Blaschke, and Wallti (2009) identified some important practices to help online learners to effective which include: encouraging group activities, promoting skills development, independent learning, developing social relationship with peers, developing appropriate online tasks, providing feedback and educational assessments. Tallent-Runnels (2015) observed the characteristics of individuals who choose to study online courses. Based on their observations, these individuals have jobs, with families and children, they are self-motivated and can learn by themselves without much help from a teacher. These individuals can learn things quickly through online instructions with very less supervision. They value the feedback from online instructors and are motivated through online discussions and collaborations among their peers in the online learning environment. Yuan and Kim (2014) suggested these things to enhance online learning experiences:
Online instructors should encourage collaboration among learners.
Online instructors should build trust among online learners.
Appropriate technologies should be used for effective online instructions.
Online collaboration can be enhanced using technology tools designed for that purpose.
Online activities should be designed to promote skills development.
Online instructors should design activities to develop the problem-solving skills of the learners.
Online Course Design Carr-Chellman and Duchastel (2015) distinguish the factor that must be considered for an ideal online course. They point out the whole online course has to include two elements: content and technology. The namely basic instructional design element of the content element, such as teaching target and other traditional instructional designs; Another is technology element, that is used to a course infrastructure of supporting learning, such as the audio conference, network discussion room, web page etc.. All articles which discuss online course model development observe practitioner teachers, who possess the cognition and prepare skill for opening online course. That is, the general teacher can hardly go deep into understanding information technology and can provide teaching what benefit, and technology development rapidly very much, let the practical teacher can't control. But university teachers set up online course increase gradually, so teacher absolutely can't just content expert, also must be course design and development. Bird (2014) aims at most university teachers systematically first rather than the technology user of earlier period to develop an online course design model. This model proposes a tool for novice designers. The key strength is that applies simply and easily. Its simplicity springs from an extensive application of pedagogy theoretical thinking on the networked collaborative e-learning. This conceptual model is called "3 Cs" course design model, including three design ingredients: Content: consists of the declarative knowledge associated with the course; Construction: refers to the social construction of knowledge that occurs whilst students engaged on authentic learning activitie ; Consolidation: encompasses the reflective process by which learners develop new understandings and appreciations of the learning they have just realized. The key point of the design model lies in social interaction between learners, including dialogue and discussion. The type of dialogue surrounding each ‘C’ is likely to be different, and the discussion surrounding the content is likely to be between learners as they determine what knowledge is required for the learning activities. The knowledge construction stage requires a dialogical interchange between learners or teachers as they consider different interpretations of the issues. On the other hand, consolidation can be facilitated by private and public reflection via conversations both with oneself and with other learners or teachers (Bird, 2014). Studies have shown that simplicity in the structure and design of online courses has a significant impact on how students access course content (Lee, 2014). Without face-to-face communication, it is easy for students to become confused and get lost in complex online course structures, making interaction with the course content more difficult; as a result, researchers have concluded that simple and standardized course designs help facilitate student-to-content interactions and have a positive impact on students’ online learning experience (Lee, 2014). Course consistency—the standardization of design, structure, and navigation across courses—also impacts how students perceive their online learning experiences. Swan (2015) found that greater consistency among course modules increased student satisfaction and perceived levels of learning. One reason for this may be that course consistency allows students to store and retrieve course-related content more effectively. Palmer and Holt (2014) similarly concluded that students most highly valued elements of the online learning environment that enabled them to access course information, retrieve lecture notes, and access class-related resources. According to Akhter (2015) the structural system of distance education requires resources to make communication of materials and instruction to learners. Structural system of distance learning needs to provide facilities to learners to become independent learner so he may take greater responsibility for learning. For this purpose structural system of distance needs to provide several choices to choose the contents for study and adopt multiple ways to provide learning experiences to students. This means a distance education institution needs to provide study package to learners who are enrolled in a course. Each study package should include study materials, study guide, assessment activities and reference materials to study the course completely. Cook (2014) observed that most of the students nowadays perform applications using their mobile devices, not on their desktop computers. More and more companies are currently developing applications designed to work on mobile phones, iPads, and tablets. With these developments, online instructors should start redesigning their approaches to online learning in order to cater the changing needs of online learners. As such, instructors can maintain the effectiveness of online courses based on the current needs of the students.
The Course Design Process Keengwee and Kidd (2015) identified the stages of course development namely: (a) course design; (b) course development; (c) course use; (d) course assessment; (e) redesign course. In designing the online course, teachers should carefully include approaches and ways to achieve the course goals. Online course design should be flexible and include various options for online students to submit assignments and projects such as the ability to accept various file formats like pdf, docs, and online links. The choice of a good course management system (CMS) is also important which allows online collaborations and discussions among learners, easy sharing of video and document links, equip with good communications tools such as instant messaging and emails, gradebook, and other essential features.
Summary
This literature review focuses on the development of an online course to help the online learning instructors in designing online lessons for their distance learning students. The purpose of this paper is to review literatures related to developing an online learning course. The literatures being reviewed will explain and show how to successfully create an engaging online course to help online learning instructors. This topic is relevant due to the substantial interest in online learning and the increased use of electronic educational technology in learning and teaching at universities, and other organizations. Mixing traditional teaching with online resources is great as you can use the best of both worlds, but they lack the potential of a totally online course in availability and flexibility. This literature review focuses on the development of an online course to help specifically the online learning instructors in designing online lessons for their distance learning students.
References Akhter, N. (2015). Distance education at a Glance.Journal of Educational Research, 18(2),1. Bailey, C. (2014). Effective pedagogical practices for online teaching: Perception of experienced instructors. Internet and Higher Education. Bird, L. (2014). The 3 ‘C’ design model for networked collaborative e-learning: a tool for novice designers. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 44(2), 153- 167. , 2007 Boling, E.C., Hough, M., Krincky, H., Saleem, H. and Stevens, M., 2014. Cutting the distance in distance education: Perspectives on what promotes positive, online learning experiences. Brindley, J., Blaschke, L. M., & Walti, C. (2009). Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 10 (3). Carr-Chellman, A. & Duchastel, P. (2015) , “The ideal online course.”, British Journal of Educational Technology, 31(3), 229-241. Cook, C. W., & Sonnenberg, C. (2014). Technology And Online Education: Models For Change. Contemporary Issues in Education Research (CIER) CIER,7(3), 171. doi:10.19030/cier.v7i3.8638 Crawford-Ferre, H. (2014). Effective online instruction in higher education. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 13(1). Huang, X. “Silvie,” & Hsiao, E.-L. (2015). Synchronous and asynchronous communication in an online environment: Faculty experiences and perceptions. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 13(1). Keengwe, J. (2015). Towards best practices in online learning and teaching in higher education.MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 6(2). Lee, Y.C. (2014). The role of perceived resources in online learning adoption. Computers & Education,50(4), 1423–1438. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2007.01.001 Pacansky-Brock, M. (2013). Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies (1 edition). New York, NY: Routledge. Palmer, S. R., & Holt, D. M. (2014). Examining student satisfaction with wholly online learning. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 25(2). Rao, K. (2014). Curb cuts in cyberspace: Universal instructional design for online courses. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 24(3). Reisetter, M. (2015). What works: Student perceptions of effective elements in online learning.Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 5(4), 277–291, 309. Swan, K. (2015). Learning effectiveness online: What the research tells us. Elements of Quality Online Education, Practice and Direction, 4, 13–47. Tallent-Runnels, M. K., Thomas, J. A., Lan, W. Y., Cooper, S., Ahern, T. C., Shaw, S. M., & Liu, X. (2015). Teaching courses online: A review of the research. Review of Educational Research, 76(1), 93- 135. Wang, Y. D. (2013). Building student trust in online learning environment. Distance Education, 35(3). Yengin, İ, Karahoca, D., Karahoca, A. and Yucele, A., 2015. Roles of teachers in e-learning: How to engage students & how to get free e-learning and the future. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), pp. 5775-5787. Yuan, J., & Kim, C. (2014). Guidelines for facilitating the development of learning communities in online courses. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30, 220-232.