Online Course Development and Support

 

Online Help

Online and web-enhanced courses have become a powerful way of reaching and engaging students. As faculty, it can be difficult to navigate the ever-changing technology that facilitates these online interactions. That's where we come in. We have several ways to assist the development of your online course. Provided on this page are resources and instructional design advice to help you maximize your learning environment while providing your students with a quality online learning experience.

For an interactive, media-rich experience, try our Online Course Development Guide

Understanding Online Courses

We are emerging from a unique situation as we migrate away from remote instruction and into intentional and compassionate online instruction. Before beginning any development plan, it is important to review some of the common misconceptions about online courses.

A good online course is not. . .

  • . . .lower quality than on-ground
    • Modality does not equal quality - the faculty make the most significant difference in the student experience.
      • Courses delivered at ETSU use the same faculty, same curriculum, same academic standards, and the same outcomes despite the delivery method.
      • Allow teaching principles, not technology, to guide your instruction.
    • Choose the modality that best suits your subject and instructor experience.
      • Faculty attitude, readiness, and willingness are essential to a successful online experience.
      • Ultimately it is the academic community's decision on the modality offered.
  • . . .a duplication of an on-ground experience
    • An online course is not an exact replicate of a face-to-face experience, with its own unique challenges and benefits. (See remote courses if you are interested in broadcasting an in-person course.)
    • A traditional face-to-face experience can be a good starting point when developing an online course.

  • . . .perfect the first time
    • Online courses, like any course, evolve over time.
    • Unlike an on-ground experience, much of the development work for an online offering is front-loaded, happening well before the course is ever offered.
    • Most courses, especially early on, are a balance between time-consuming best practices and realistic expectations on a developing faculty-member's availability and growing skills.
  • . . .an online filing cabinet
    • Beyond merely disseminating information, the best online courses build relationships.
  • . . .automatically delivered
    • Unlike a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), ETSU online courses should promote presence and interaction.
    • Technology can help with repetitive and time-consuming tasks, freeing an instructor to build relationships, authentic assessments, and intentional interactions.
  • . . .easier
    • Since they hold to the same rigorous standards and accreditation requirements as other courses, ETSU online courses are not easier than traditional, face-to-face counterparts.
    • Online courses should not require less time than traditional courses. However, that instructional time may be spent in different ways.







How Do I Begin Development?

Developing a high-quality course with an online audience in mind takes an intentional design approach. Break down the development process into these three stages. Remember, ATS can assist you with each step in several ways.

Steps for Online Development

1. Plan Your Course


Before beginning any work in D2L, it is important to build a framework. Use this stage to design your objectives, assessment strategies, and the best modality for the course. Answer important questions such as what format and organization your content will take, how to evaluate activities and measure success, and how you will include your own presence and subject-matter expertise in the course.

  • Purpose and Objectives

    Begin with your course purpose and objectives. All of your material, activities and assignments should contribute to the achievement of the stated course and module objectives.

    ✔️ Use a objective blueprint to help visualize how all activities in the course flow together. Example
    ✔️ Use a strong course narrative to explain the purpose of all materials. Developing this now will help with all future stages of the development process. Learn more

  • Modality and Technology
    • The way in which you plan to offer your course will steer many of the instructional design decisions you make. Learn more
      • Asynchronous

      • Asynchronous with Required Synchronous Meetings
      • Synchronous


    ✔️ What software or hardware might be required or beneficial?

    • Is a microphone required? A camera? A strong internet connection?
    • Can a student complete your course (view, engage, and submit) on a mobile device only? A Chromebook?


    ✔️ What ETSU tools can be utilized to help students?

    • D2L rubrics, checklists, intelligent agents, Panopto, Zoom, LinkedIn Learning, etc.
  • Content Formats
    • Content is a term we use that encompasses a wide variety of material and options, and should be diverse and comprehensive.
      • Written, audio, video, interactive and third-party service can all be used to communicate your subject-matter expertise with students. Learn more


    ✔️ What types of content will you be using in your course?

    • Remember, each piece of content should be represented in the objective correlation map created earlier.
  • Content Organization
    • Break your course into smaller components to improve self-direction and approachability. These smaller self-contained learning units are known as modules. Learn more

    • Modules can be based around time, such as a week, or subjects, themes, even exams.

    • Each module should act like a mini-course, with consistent naming, formats, design and structure. Learn more


    ✔️ Take this opportunity to scaffold a structure that makes sense for your objectives.

    • This is good time to build out a rough course schedule as well. This will be very helpful in phase two of the development process.
  • Assessment and Evaluation
    • Measuring student mastery goes beyond recall; it must include application opportunities. Learn more

      • Scaffolding shifts responsibility onto the student in an effort to encourage the development of skills and understanding. Learn more


    ✔️ With your measurable objectives and activities, continue to map your assignments and activities. Add these to the module structure and schedule you have built

  • Instructor Presence
    • Engagement is a critical component of student success. Approach presence in the online classroom with greater intentionality. Learn more


    ✔️ Define the ways in which you will encourage collaboration and foster a sense of community. Learn more

2. Develop Your Course


Now that you have a framework make sure you know the tools and resources you will need. Begin with any training or guides needed to feel comfortable with the technology at your disposal. Remember, ATS can help! Start your course by creating your syllabus based on the questions answer in phase 1. Once created, use a D2L development shell to populate your course, adding grades, activities, content, discussions, and other required elements.

  • Resources and Training

    Now that you have a basic plan for development, it is easier to identify the tools and technology that you may need more experience or training with.

    Fundamental Resources

    • D2L Brightspace Learning Management System - D2L Brightspace is our Online Learning Environment here at ETSU. D2L can be used to teach a course entirely online or as an enhancement for a traditional classroom where you can post materials and have online discussions. D2L is extremely flexible, easy to use, and scalable so that you can use the tools you need to teach your course. Learn more

    • Zoom Web Conferencing - Zoom is a web-based conferencing software used to share information and host meetings over the internet. It can be used to collaborate via chat, microphone, or webcam to virtually any device with an internet connection, including computers, laptops, tablets and smart phones. Entire meetings can be recorded for later viewing. Learn more

    • Panopto Video Management - Panopto is a complete video suite, with the ability to record, upload, search, share and host videos from one cutting-edge platform. Securely centralize and stream your videos, create playlists, optimize playback, add interaction and measure viewer engagement. Learn more

    • ATS Resources for Online Course Development - An interactive resource guide created to assist you in the rapid development of your online courses. Access guide


    ATS Training and Resources

  • Create Your Syllabus

    Now that you have a plan and are familiar with the tools you will be using, it is time to construct your online syllabus. This is a good opportunity to review and update your schedule. Evaluate priorities and areas for flexibility and take in to account holidays for the semester.

    Required Elements


    • Purpose and goals
    • Course objectives or intended learning outcomes

    • Instructor contact information, availability and timing of instructor response

    • List of textbooks and required materials

    • Specific course requirements and course policies

    • Sequential list of assignments and projects with due dates

    • Grading procedure and grading scale

    • Class participation and attendance policy

    • Course ground rules

    • Syllabus Attachment Learn more


    Accessible Templates and Examples


    This resource includes a series of accessible syllabus templates to help you structure your own, unique document. Access the templates

  • D2L Development Site

    Now that you have a strong plan, sufficient training and a syllabus, it is time to start populating your D2L course site.

    Development Shell


    • Request a blank D2L development shell for your online course. This site is separate from actual D2L sites and is not tied to any particular semester or students.
    • Use this shell to build your course, experiment with new features, and make upgrades as you continually teach. Before each semester, copy over the most current, updated copy into the actual semester site you will use for teaching. Request a development shell


    Build Order


    All learning management systems are different. Within D2L, we recommend creating the elements of your course in this order. Remember, all of the content, grades, and activities have already been planned by this stage.

    1. Gradebook with all grade items. Learn more

    2. Assessments and activities including dropbox items and tests.
    3. Discussions forums, topics and prompts. Learn more
    4. Modules and module structure, including consistent, repeating areas. Learn more
    5. Content items including written work, multimedia recordings, and third-party connections. This is often the most time-consuming stage of development. Learn more
    6. Welcome Message and road map. Now that the majority of the course is built, welcome students with a friendly and personable message and walk them through your course and expectations with a road map.

3. Evaluate Your Course


Evaluation is an important process when designing an online course. Seek feedback with a course review, either through ATS or your college liaison. If the department enters into an Online Course Development MOU agreement, compensation may be available if eligible.

  • Course Development Standards
    There are two primary course design rubrics recognized in the current conversation: The Quality Matters Rubric and the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Scorecard. Inspired by these standards, ETSU, along with a group of faculty liaisons crafted the current MOU rubric, ETSU's standard online course development guidelines. Learn more
  • Course Review Process
    • In an effort to combine the metrics outlined in both the QM and OLC Scorecard rubrics along with ETSU-specific criterion that seeks to highlight the uniqueness of the ETSU experience, Academic Technology Services, together with the Online Faculty Liaisons, crafted the ETSU Memorandum of Understanding.

    • The MOU is a course development and evaluation process aimed at incentivizing the production of high caliber online classes. This development process is a collaboration with the ATS office in an effort to weld together subject matter expertise and instructional design precision. Review the MOU rubric as well as the steps of the process by visiting http://www.etsu.edu/mou.

    • The recommendations in the rubric are a framework—a scaffolding to build your own, unique course. There is no single recipe for an excellent online course. Few of us enjoy being evaluated, and it can be easy to take suggestions personally. In no way are we assessing the quality of any person as an instructor or their teaching methods or the quality of the content itself.
      • Level 1 (Revision Required): These are developments that need some form of revision before approval. Generally, this is due to a few required elements that have not been added or completed.

      • Level 2 (Acceptable): This level indicates the course has passed all required elements and has an overall score acceptable for delivery but does not qualify for a stipend. Most developments are in the acceptable range at the end of the initial review.

      • Level 3 (Standard): This is the level where most online courses developed at ETSU fall. Standard is not a negative score and usually represents a good balance of instructional design and scalability.

      • Level 4 (Good): These are online courses that scored above average in many categories, demonstrating several best practices, and required a high degree of time and effort to develop.

      • Level 5 (Excellent): Excellent courses are the very best blend of instructional design, authentic assessment, and online delivery best practices. This is an extremely rare classification and would be considered the best online examples ETSU has to offer.
  • Internal Feedback

    While the MOU will review several instructional design and content delivery aspects, we are not subject-matter experts in your field. Continue to seek out other forms of internal feedback and support.

    • Peer review is still a fundamental process in most departments, and most courses can benefit from peer-driven feedback and recommendations.

    • Soliciting feedback from students in your course is a great way to see your course from their point of view. Consider optional and anonymous surveys throughout your online course.