The Time Invested for an Online Course
The time invested to develop a quality online course is less than the time required to develop the same course for a traditional classroom delivery. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.
It's generally more in an online course because everything must be spelled out in advance. All materials must be prepared in a certain format so they can be accessed by all. Also, it may take more time to search for materials which are more self-paced.
Anthony,
You do need to have all of your peas in a row way before the course starts or else students and instructor will be frustrated!
Shelly Crider
I think that the time allocation for preparing an online course is similar to that of an onground course, although the online preparation probably requires a little more time because instructors must be careful to prepare or modify materials so that they are suited to the online environment.
Instructors, in order to be effective, must also set aside more time for students, such as additional office hours. This is because students in this environment may need more personal attention, especially if they are not yet familiar or comfortable with the online environment.
I think the time for develop a quality online course takes more time than a traditional classroom delivery. Everything that we would say in a traditional classroom needs to be written and posted in an online classroom.
We must anticipate every question that we may have from the students. We must take into consideration anything that may seem unclear to the students.
I would think it would take longer to develop the online course. The main reason is getting everything in the place for the students. The biggest things it needs to be user friendly. If students can't get around you are wasting your time. Once the online course is up and running it should be just as fast with a traditional classroom. There are many students that are afraid to take on-line course. Many of them had a bad experience taking the courses. I like to be in the clssroom so I can interact with my students face to face.
I disagree. I have developed both traditional classroom courses and online courses, and if anything, the online courses have taken longer. I think this is due to having to create certain materials strictly for the online environment. For example, I use podcasts in my online classes that I don't use in the traditional classroom. I also have to create tests differently.
Hi all,
I would think it would be the same or longer as relates to time for an online course because you are incorporating multi-media...such as audio, animation, links to articles, etc. Much of this is not incorporated into a traditional course.
Deborah,
Anticipating questions is a tough one, but we as instructors need to know or know how to find the answer to questions asked.
Shelly Crider
Ronald,
Makeing sure all links work properly is time consuming!
Shelly Crider
Rina,
Podcasts are a wonderful tool as long as all students have access.
Shelly Crider
Yes, I do agree. I have taught for 10 years F2F & 7 years online. In my F2F classes I have 2-3 lectures per week, but in my online class chats I do one lecture per week and it is optional for the students since it is synchronous. Most of my time is on the discussion board & grading online.I spend less time prepping for my online class than I did for f2f classes. In addition, in f2f classes I had to make test & grade them. In my online classes I have no tests ir term papers like I had in f2f classes. In f2f classes I spend more time with students in office hours & before & after class. In my online classes I very seldom get anyone during office hours, but I do get allot of emails daily to answer where I got none in my f2f classes.
I think the time to present a good quality online course would take more time. I think you could throw one together in this about the some time as classroom setting. That type of course will not benfit students. The planning and the is almost two times more for on line course.
A Student can come into a classroom and say yes or no to stay or go. The classroom will make students have the feeling that they need to leave for a reason.
On line course they can come and go as the please. This alllows the excuses to stop about being in class.
Ron
I think that the time investment in either is high to create a quality learning atmosphere. I think the initial investment is great in an online class. But once the course is developed it can be useed several terms with only minor modifications. A complete review shou periodically occur.
Ronald,
You are right! You can certainly see a "thrown" together class.
Shelly Crider
Good day,
The time invested to develop a quality online course is not less than the time required to develop the same course for a traditional classroom delivery, in my opinion. I do not agree with the original statement submitted. I think the time is more involved, actually.
Preparation and attention, each week in a daily format is how I plan my course interaction to promote quality. In a traditional setting, I may only meet twice or once a week depending on the session duration I am teaching. In an online class, I am present each day through email and in discussion forums with students. To develop a quality course online involves being active routinely in the class. Having a strong presence is important for students to see when trying to promote quality instruction that resembles accessibility and availability regardless of being online in courses. Thus, the time can involve more than less development to promote excellence.
Respectfully, Perry Spann
Good day,
Deborah, I wrote similiar context because research and activity in online courses may not be slight to have positive interactions and quality learning. The written content should be proper and clear since nonverbal communication is not present to help with professionalism or interpretations of course materials.
Respectfully, Perry Spann
Alfred,
Not just periodically, but every time the course is offered. Links changes so quickly.
Shelly Crider
The time invested should be similar, regardless of the type of course. A lot depends on these three factors in my opinion: (1) are you building the course for the first time, (2) how tech-savvy is the instructor and (3) is the subject of the course something you enjoy.
BUILDING THE COURSE FOR THE FIRST TIME – This is usually the longest process because your building the class from the ground up. Nothing is set up and it’s all on you. The course can be as good as you want to make it. This can be very time consuming but after the initial build, you should only need to update and tweak the class here and there.
HOW TECH-SAVVY IS THE INSTRUCTOR – I have friends at work that are very I.T. friendly. They cut and paste, use self-populating excel docs, function keys – the whole 9 yards. This can save you a lot of time in some cases. As long as you double check the course content to ensure you’re highlighting the right information and not making mistakes. Being in a rush almost never helps, unless you’re a first responder. I’d say I’m above average in this regard but I’m getting better. Function keys are still a bit scary to me.
DO YOU ENJOY THE SUBJECT OF THE COURSE – This can be the most important factor in my opinion. If the instructor really enjoys the subject matter in a course the enthusiasm is infectious. The students thus become enthusiastic about it as well. They can certainly tell when you’re not and usually don’t hesitate to let you know. This can hold true for other aspects of the course as well such the required text books or the online platform used by the school.
I have developed both online and traditional classroom courses. The online courses definitely require a longer time to develop.
With a traditional classroom course, I only need the objectives a few resources developed that would allow me to lecture and question students in the class. Much of the delivery in this case is "on the fly" and I simply use my skills and experience as a teacher to engage the class.
When teaching online, there is much more planning that has to happen because of the largely asynchronous nature of the content delivery. I have to anticipate the flow the class rather than letting it develop organically, as in a tradition classroom course. Overall, I would say that there is much more planning prior to execution in the online environment.
-r
