Lynette,
It is very easy to miss one little word and change the whole content of a paragraph!!
Shelly Crider
Martin,
This goes right back to effective communication. In the online course, we need to make sure that communication is taking place.
Shelly Crider
Disagreed. In a traditional course, the course structure is created and then the supporting information can be presented in a variety of manners and the timing of the presentation can be varied. In an online course, the course structure including all hyperlinks and the logical flow of the course must be built-in to the course in the development phase.
Disagree,
The preparation for an online course is much more involved. The creation of documents, presentations, assessments, and Socratic questions to motivate student interaction is time consuming for the effective online instructor.
Once the presentations and announcements are all created and properly uploaded to the course, these uploads must be reviewed for verification.
Not reviewing the setup of an online course can be devastating to the student expectations.
Due to the nature of the online format, I believe it takes more time to complete and facilitate an online course. Although access is flexible and you are able to do the course whenever it is convenient, it is time consuming to provide accurate feedback in multiple formats/style (synchronous/asynchronous) online/offline.
Lealan
I agree, just because the setting is different does not mean that the student should receive a different level of education. As a matter of fact I believe that the on line takes more time due to the various learning tools that can be implemented.
Genieve
The time invested to develop a quality online course should be equal to the time required to develop a classroom course. Quality has nothing to do with delivery. I think online classes have advantages as do classroom courses. There is no perfect learning environment. The combination of both would be ideal.
Brian Weiler, R.ph
I would say about the same. The online course even sometimes takes more time due to get the technical issues that sometimes comes with computers, software and potential computer gliches.
I think there may be slight variations because with online content, you have to take into account technology, programs, software, etc. But, for the most part, the content will be the same. The delivery method will be different, but the learniing outcomes should not be affected. So, I would basically say the time invested is about the same for the most part.
That's interesting. I think it would take more time since you have to consult with IT about building the architecture to supplement your class.
In a traditional classroom the instructor is provided the curriculum as to what was used for the online. Both are the same, therefore the time in developing the course is the same.
The difference is that the developer has to provide the delivery and someone has to prepare it to be presented online. It will be consistent each time a student takes the course.
In traditional, the instructor delivers in whatever manner they desire making modifications each time a student takes the course. In addition, it can be a different instructor thus causing a difference in delivery. The length of the course is going to determine the time of delivery.
Presuming that delivery is not included in the online or traditional course then the time for developing the curriculum is the same.
Keith,
It can also depend a lot on how comfortable a person is on the computer!
Shelly Crider
Simone,
You also need to think about your students as some students will have different types of computers, Internet speed and the age of their computer!
Shelly Crider
I disagree! So much prep work goes in to making a successful online course. The good thing is that you can automate some of it, but the bad news is that you will have to work twice as hard to make sure you are presenting clear information. If not, much of your time will be spent answering student emails seeking clarification :).
If an online course is being developed based on an existing on-ground course, it occurs to me that contacting the on-ground instructors for feedback on instructional content and design would be beneficial. Here is an example of what I mean.
There may be particular concepts in the course that many learners find difficult to master. An experienced on-ground instructor (let's call them a "SME" or "Subject Matter Expert" in this instance?) encounters questions and quizzical looks from learners in real-time, and can address them immediately. Thus, the SME could provide examples of those concepts and the typical questions that students ask, and how they address them in order to clarify the concept. Armed with those questions ahead of time, the online course lectures, quizzes, model answers, etc., could be designed to predict those questions and answer them so the learner is not made to wait for a reply to emails or discussion questions. Additionally, the online instructor might use this information during chats to ensure the difficult concept is addressed and students have that real-time opportunity to ask for clarification if needed.
I see this as a method of bridging the gap between the synchronicity of the on-ground classroom and the asynchronicity of the online environment.
Dan
Andrea,
This is true...students like clarification and you will be doing a lot of that if information is not clear.
Shelly Crider
Dan,
True....the SME can give input on what works and does not work, but we do have to keep in mind that some things simply do not work as well online as in the classroom.
Shelly Crider
I disagree with this. We develop online videos for each of our online courses, and each video takes a considerable amount of time to complete. From the video, we create a quiz and assignment that the students need to complete. Our school has both online and resident instruction and the online portion definitely takes the most time to complete.
I think it depends on the course. I have developed correspondence courses and initially they took a lot more time to develop. The "lecture" part was tricky because I could not depend on discussion the same way I could in the classroom. Students obviously can have discussion online, but it seems like you have to do more planning up front.
Lisa,
Good point. Each class will have its own "dna" so to say!!
Shelly Crider
