How To Get Started Online

The Distance Learning Group in the Technology Services office can help you get started teaching online. Call (979)845-1111 or stop by 434B Harrington Tower and speak with Frances Hunter for one-on-one assistance.

All you need to know to get started with creating your online is course is these four tenets:

• Create Chunks of Content
• Create Objectives
• Create Content or Activities
• Create an Assessment

As you begin to gather your course content, you will want to create an outline of the components of your course. Some people prefer a graphical representation of their outline which is called a Storyboard. The storyboarding process is as simple as creating index cards or PowerPoint can be used as a way to storyboard your content into individual scenes. Each "scene" or outline topic will become a webpage.

Chunks of Content: Face-to-face courses are arranged according to a single class or week of material. It is best to arrange your course content into self-contained units of instruction (modules or topics). A module is simply a way to organized your information. These modules should then be arranged in a sequence of readings, multimedia material, assignments, and/or assessments to give the students a sense of order and direction. Dividing your content into CHUNKS of material make it easier for students to progress through the course.

The case for dividing your course by weeks or dates is when your students need extra help with staying on track. This can be the case if this is their first online course or if the time period for completion is short (such as a summer or mini-semester course). One professor actually named her modules, Week 1: Due June 6, to avoid any confusion about dates.

Objective: For each module, develop goals or course objectives that specifically describe the behaviors that will demonstrate the knowledge and how these behaviors will be measured. Click here to learn more about how to write learning objectives that meet demanding behavioral criteria. In Vista 4.0, it provides a link to your learning goals for each learning module.

Content/Activity: Create a page planner for the content and/or activity that will allow your student's to obtain their objective and you will have automatically created the Storyboard or outline for your course.

• Name your module,
• Name your page,
• Define learning objective,
• Provide a brief description of content or activity,
• Describe delievery strategy,
• Provide web resource links,

Give a description of graphics and/or media files needed, and finally,

Assessment: Describe the assessment activity. Besides traditional assessments such as quizzes or tests, remember the 3 P's (Portfolios, Papers, and Projects).