I would say that it takes just as long if not longer given the fact that you would be adding and completing video lectures and also taking time to develop other ways of presenting the material to address all types of learners. Detailed directions and explanations are also needed to help the student navigate the LMS and course that might not be necessary for an on ground course. So overall it probably takes more time to develop a quality online course then an on-ground course.
false false false. Online course, imo, can take a great deal more time to develop and craft bc you have to plan for all the questions and confusions that come up in a classroom and have the benefit to answer on the spot on ground. Online doesn't share that luxury. How does it go, an ounce of prevention is worth a plan of cure. Minimizing opportunities for confusion and obstacles BEFORE students have the occasion to encounter them is of utmost importance in the online environment, and that comes with good planning and course design.
Jenifer,
Oh so true on the ounce of prevention is worth a plan of cure.
Shelly Crider
Rebecca,
It is good to hear that you do prepare as students can really tell when an instructor is not prepared!
Shelly Crider
William,
Time is needed for quality no matter where you are, but you do have to do a lot of double checking online
Shelly Crider
Developing an online course is not easier or shorter than a traditional course. It actually takes longer time. Once we get experience and keep teach the same class, we can get better or prepare faster than first time but it still is not much easier. I add always materials and try to adapt new technologies. That's why I feel it requires a lot of preparation.
John,
We do not to get organized so that the course can be put together with a little more ease, but completely!
Shelly Crider
I see that the time invested for the online course and the traditional course depends on the course and the time faculty wants to put into it to make it apply to the diversity of the students. I do think it could be more time invested in the online environment due to preperation because faculty need to be more supportive and present since there is no face to face interaction. The faculty have to apply the most effective means of presenting different types of content. This goes back to the online lecture reflecting the content as if you were giving an in-class lecture. You have to mirror the face to face environment.
Fonzette Smith-Leavell
I disagree. Developing an online course requires the designer to consider technology implications, tools for students to use to reinforce complex concepts specifically because the instructor is not face to face. Secondly, I think an online course has to keep up with rapidly changing technology requirements at a much faster rate then the traditional classroom.
Fonzette,
I am sure we have all seen instructors online, and traditional, that were simply not ready for class.
Shelly Crider
Mary Kay,
Good points....Not every online student have decent computers or fast speed Internet.
Shelly Crider
In terms of announcements I think they can be valuable to direct students to other aspects of the course. For example, I will post a teaser line that says - check out the video posted on the topic we are discussing this week in the discussion thread. I even sometimes will post a link in the announcements to the video and ask for further comment in the discussion or live chat. I use color, pictures, bullet points and keep announcements short and to the point.
Mary Kay,
Teasers will help keep the students coming back to read more!
Shelly Crider
I completely disagree with this statement. I have found that when I was developing an online course for where I work that I had to put more time into developing the course for online than I did when it was for a classroom. To ensure the student receives the same information in the online venue the developer of the course needs to see that the information is presented in several formats with quizzes, discussions, lectures and guest speakers etc. This takes more time than formulating a lecture, study packets and a test for a real time classroom.
Matthew,
Once you accumulate your quizzes, lectures, ect, you can simply update them now and them to give them new life. Good job.
Shelly Crider
I believe experience is key to any time invested in planning a course, whether online or ground.
Once the task is performed,there should be a type of template that can be used often with little changes.
I disagree. Being a course developer myself I can say that this is not the case as all. Along with the fact that some say that it is easier to teach online than face to face. It definitely is not easier with online learning on either account.
When designing a course online, you need to consider engagement and discussion. In a f2f course, the discussion happens naturally. You can see how effective an assignment is and how engaging it is by seeing and talking with your students. In an online environment, you don't have this. You need to design discussion questions to have a conversation with students. You don't interact with your students in real-time so you need to check in frequently - make sure that they have a place to ask questions. You need to find more supplemental materials. You can't predict what their questions are until they have them. You also can't see from their body language what sections of the topics are hard to understand. You will spend a lot of time developing a quality online course to address these issues.
I actually think it takes more time to develop a quality online course than a traditional classroom delivery course. In a F2F class there is always room for adjustment because there is more opportunity for change because of the interaction with the students and having the opportunity of being present with the students. The instructor can clarify and interpret assignments, etc for the students in a F2F class more easily than in an online class. The online class syllabus, assignments, etc need to be very specific and clear from the start so the students can understand and know the expectations which will help their success in the online class.
Michelle,
Knowing that the student understands the material is an excellent example!!
Shelly Crider
Marie,
I agree with keeping a template. This way you can tweak it along the way!
Shelly Crider
