Online Delivery

 

What is online delivery?

Online delivery refers to educational opportunities that are available over the Internet.  This includes an entire course online or a blended course, one that is partly online and partly face-to-face.

Designing a course, whether face-to-face, blended or online, is about making choices. You choose the best method and the best tools for you to help your students attain the objectives of your course. The difference in an online course is that there is a slightly different set of options from which to choose. The online environment may make some familiar methods and tools less feasible, but at the same time, it offers possibilities that may not be available in a classroom.  The advantage of blended courses is that you can capitalize on the strengths of both environments.

If you are ready to begin designing your course, just go right to the links below. These links will walk you through the course design process, give you some links to places where you can get help, and provide a list of reading resources. However, you may have questions about the process of putting a course online. If you do, just skip over the links for now and read on below. We'll include the links at the bottom again when you are ready to continue.

How do I put a course online?

The following four sections are designed to help with the choices you will need to make as you put a course online.

  1. Get Ready!

    2. There are many options available to you as you design your online course. To be able to make informed choices, it is important to be clear about the criteria you will use in making your selections. 

    • You
      • Knowing your strengths, weaknesses, skills and preferences will help you to design an online course that will ‘fit’ for you, and will allow you to get the support you need. 
    • Your students  
      • Not all distance students are the same.  Who your students are, why they are choosing to take a course online, what their skill levels are, for example, will inform the choices you make in designing the course.
    • The course
      • Not all courses are the same.  You will also want to consider the special characteristics of your course, for example, whether it’s a required course or an elective.  Aarticulating clearly the goals and objectives of the course not only helps guide your design decisions, they serve as an important study aid for the online learner.
    • The environment
      • Especially if you are unfamiliar with online courses, explore the limitations and opportunities the Internet affords teaching and learning. In particular, consider how your role as instructor is affected.

  2. Get Set!

    3. Armed with the information you gathered in section 1, you can begin to make informed choices. How will you help your students achieve the learning objectives of your course? 

    • Making choices  
      • Chances are, in exploring the online environment in section 1, you started to get some ideas of how you might present material, facilitate interaction and critical thinking, and assess your students’ learning in your online course.   Now you might want to dig a little deeper into the various tools and techniques in order to make some decisions. .A framework that might serve to support your decision making process is the Community of Inquiry framework.
    • Developing a course map
      • Before you begin to work directly in the software environment, it is helpful to think through the overall organization of your course and to bring together the objectives, content, materials, activities, and assessment strategies you have chosen.

  3. Go!

    4. With your map and materials in hand, you are ready to build the course

    • Most instructors will use the University of Alberta's Learning Management System (LMS) eClass (powered by Blackboard Vista).  Request your blank course from the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) by using the online Request a Course form available on the eClass tab. Further support and training for online teaching is also available from CTL.

  4. First Flight

    5. The course may be ready to fly but the design process is never complete.  It is an ongoing cycle of evaluating and improving. If you have the luxury of doing a pilot of your course, by all means do so. Usually however, the first delivery of the course serves as the pilot.

    • Student feedback is critical in evaluating your design. Include opportunities for feedback both during the term and at the end of the course.
    •  Keep a record of your observations and evaluation as well.
    • Be prepared for a bit of a learning curve if this is your first time teaching online.  

    Course Development Links

3-104 Education North
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2G5

 

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