Marivic Reyes Mitschek

To improve an online course, it's important to review and reflect on it. This process, known as "closing the loop," involves evaluating various aspects of the course to improve student learning experiences, the curriculum, professional development, quality assurance, and personnel decisions. Using both quantitative and qualitative data from multiple sources is crucial, and involving students, institutions, and teaching communities is important. Closing the loop requires effective linkages between student learning outcomes and planning to drive the academic learning process.

Assessment is a way to judge student learning and teaching effectiveness. It can be formative (ongoing) or summative (end-of-course), with each serving a different purpose. Formative assessments (e.g. non-graded quizzes) help improve instruction while summative assessments (e.g. tests) prove learning. Rubrics are a useful tool to ensure consistent and transparent grading. Effective assessment plans should balance formative and summative assessments and tie to course learning outcomes.

From the text, it is clear that creating an online learning community involves more than just providing access to information and technology tools. Students must establish a sense of belonging and identify a purpose for belonging to the community. Effective communication is also essential for the success of the student, and the instructor needs to pay particular attention to the communication of each individual student and the group. It is important to provide opportunities for communication and collaboration, both synchronous and asynchronous, through tools such as chat rooms, discussion boards, wikis, and blogs. Sustaining an online learning community involves developing… >>>

Developing a course framework is like creating a roadmap for course development. It allows for careful planning of how to sustain module consistency and ensure completion of learning objectives. A course framework should answer questions about what students need to know and do, how content will be delivered, received, and assessed. Audience analysis is important before designing and developing the course. Consistency in course modules, including layout, instructional, and assessment characteristics, enhances the learning process and reduces student anxiety. Creating a learning-object database and using course-module templates can save time. LMS templates can be altered to fit specific needs.