I disagree. I think it takes more time to develop an online course then it does a traditional course. There is so much more you have to think about with the online course. Both the online course and the traditional course needs content, assessments, assignments, and discussions. The online course also needs to take all that information and make it eye catching and easy to find. You also have to make certain things stand out, as to emphasize importance. Where in a traditional environment you can hear the emphasizing in your voice.
False, I believe there would be high investments in course development. Excessive efforts to provide organization, direction, interaction, assessments, media supported learning, etc would be key to providing a solid and effective online course. The benefit would be less time investments during the course...although I believe there would still be substantial time invested in student communications rather than developement.
Ali,
Students do appreciate presentations that keep them interested.
Shelly Crider
Heather,
Good point. There is a lot you can tell about an assignment when you hear the instructor, so let's make sure that our announcements show the importance without seeming to be yelling at the students.
Shelly Crider
I agree that it might take some more time to create the course, but once a good course is created, the time spent on the actual teaching will be minimized as long as the content is good.
Amber,
Content is a must! You can put lots of little bells in your class, but if you are missing content then your students will be missing learning opportunities and objectives of the course.
Shelly Crider
QUESTION: 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.
ANSWER: No, I don't agree. I think you actually have to put the same, if not *more* effort into developing a online vs. an onsite course. Because there is usually no face-to-face time with online courses, instructors have to really use a lot of creativity in how materials are presented to students. As a result, it requires more energy to figure out how to make-up for not being directly inside a physical classroom with the students.
Fialishia
Kristin, yes - lectures are one of the main reasons why it does take the *same*, if not more time to develop an online course. Its so much easier to stand in front of a class and lecture with a PowerPoint slide presentation. For example, over time, instructors can easily update past lectures for onsite classes by interjecting extra info from current events, etc.. However, with online courses, you kind of have to make sure you include as much info as possible and update your lectures over time. This requires extra work on the computer to make sure weekly lectures stay current.
Fialishia
Hi Kristina, yes - I've found that online course development definitely is more time consuming. Question... about how long would it take you to develop at 10-12 week course?
Fialishia
This completely depends on the person developing it, their experience with computers. It also depends on what type of course we are talking about. For example, a school that teaches video production and incorporates many videos into the online course, may take much longer than one that doesn't due to weighing in production time of the videos, etc.
I believe initially more time will be invested in development of the online course. Attempting to anticipate questions and comments of the audience and incorporating that information in the class to clarify those anticipated questions will take additional time in preparation where in the ground based class the questions can be answered during the lecture with little preparation.
I do agree that like the gound based classes once it has been presented several times and refinements made it will in the long run take less time than ground based on campus courses.
I disagree with the following statement: 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. I believe the time to develop an online course is more than the time to develop an on ground course. I think it is harder to convey your message, ideas, points in an online environment therefore it takes more time trying to develop content that allows you to be successful. Plus you need to determine if your online methods of assessment are going to be successful in an online environment.
The time invested to develop a quality online course often requires more time than the same course for a traditional classroom delivery. Some of the reasons that online courses require much more time reflects a huge diversity of students who can come from any geographic location and educational background.
Consequently, it is important not to assume that students are technology savvy. In fact, when designing online courses, it is important to design them with students who have very little technology experience because many students are new to online education.
In addition, it takes planning and creativity to engage students in discussions as well as to find relevant resources that include multimedia presentations that involve adult learners.
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 depends on the experience of an instructor. The first time one develops an online course, it may take a long time. Later on, one builds on the structure, material, experience with students and improves the quality of the course.
Julie,
We do want to improve the quality of the course each time we teach it....either in the discussion area or somewhere that we see the course flat.
Shelly Crider
Christopher,
I do hope that we look at a course and give it an update each and every term it is offered.
Shelly Crider
lindsey,
Everything about an online course has to be thought through. How will my ideas come across to students, How will I know I have connected with students.
Shelly Crider
There are several issues regarding the time invested in developing an online course versus a traditional classroom. I don't think that an online course requires less time initially. Both require different sets of criteria. When developing an online class an instructor has to anticipate any and all questions that e-learners might have, which would easily be answered in the traditional classroom face to face.
In the traditional classroom, you don't need to rehearse your presentation! When recording a lecture for an online course, I often record and re-record several times to get it "right."
The time to write the syllabus is the same for both however the online course needs to outline all the details for the Discussion Boards and the requirements for posting, which are most important for the online environment.
Once the course is developed, like most courses, both need revamping and reviewing periodically.
I disagree. I've found that in many cases, it seems like less time is spent. When this is the case, a quality online course is not created. We wind up with PDF quiz documents submitted as assignments rather than engaging scenario based assignments.
Online course take much longer to develop becuase they go through an extencive developmnent process that includes the creation of interactive materials and video content. Ground classes typically stem from the syllabus and the outcomes.. The insturctor then decides what the assignments and lecture material will be prior to entering the classroom.
