I disagree. The time invested to develop a quality online course is much more than for a traditional classroom delivery because everything must be explained in detail.
Shelly,
Thank you for posting this interesting question. I feel that the time required to develop an on-line course is significantly greater than the time required to develop a traditional (on-ground) course. An on-line course should contain all of the elements of the traditional course. In addition, the on-line course needs to address technology and asynchronous learning issues.
As I stated in an earlier post, the instructor needs to be concerned with providing the student enough engagement and feedback. This task is much more time consuming in an on-line environment. In addition, the instructor needs to be concerned with the student’s ability to use the various technology aspects of the classroom throughout the course. These issues taken together require a great level of preparation than that of a traditional classroom.
Jim
David,
Thank you very much for your post. You make an excellent point that experience will benefit the instructor when developing future courses. I agree with this. The saving of time can be tremendous. However, I would also expect to see the same phenomena happen in a traditional (on ground) class.
Jim
I disagree that the time invested to develop an online course is less than traditional classroom delivery. I believe that the instructor spends more time preparing materials to distribute to students in the online environment. This is because the instructor cannot speak with the students and must instead must prepare all materials for online use. Also, the instructor must participate in all other activities online such as forums, creating homework and quizzes, and grading papers and exams.
This depends, to some extent, on whether or not the online campus has already defined a standardized syllabus and list of assignments. Every online campus is a little different in this regard.
Gregory,
Yes, it is easier to see in person when something is not clicking with a particular student.
Shelly Crider
James,
Instructors need to make sure that students have all resources to complete the course effectively...do they have the updated java, popup blockers down....ect
Shelly Crider
Scott,
There are times when I have used a project or an exam when it did not go over at all!! Too many questions let me know right away that the project needed a little more!
Shelly Crider
I think it takes the same amount of time to develop a quality online course or a traditional classroom delivery. In both classrooms, it is important to make the class,chat sessions interactive to enhance participation of students.
Sitara
I definitely do not agree. As an instructor who has developed both on-ground and online courses, it has been my experience that much more content goes into the online format. In a traditional classroom, you typically have an anticipated number of students who attend and can participate in classroom activities. In the online environment, you may not have consistent attendance, or any students attend at all. You must be prepared with enough material for your live chat, which will be archived and may be watched by students who missed the live lecture. You must also provide enough learning assessments and assignments to foster learning outside the traditional classroom environment.
I think that depends on the content, but if all things are equal I think you could actually have to invest more time in an online course, at least for the first iteration. This is because in addition to the actual content, the actual functionality of an online course is vital, so this must be constructed and tested in each area. If students cannot access discussion threads, assignments, etc. , the content will be essentially worthless.
I disagree. I believe it takes me longer to develop an online course because you need to ensure the technology, content, outcomes, student needs and learning styles are all addressed. In addition, you have to clearly communicate the content through various media and methods.
I think this may depend on the experience of the developer. If the developer is familiar with ground courses and not online, it is going to take longer. However, if the experience is equal both ways, I think it would take about the same amount of time to develop an online course as a ground course.
Thanks, Jim
I would guess that it is likely more time intensive. Not only must you work to deliver the quality instruction, you have to overcome the fact that it is not face to face communication in the on-line environment. Non-verbals are a major part of effective communication. When you do not have that present you must really work to make up for it.
Julie Ann,
That is exactly what students want as well! Good job!
Shelly Crider
Nagalakshmi ,
There are times when discussions have to be added to or changed a bit on the fly.
Shelly Crider
Rob,
There are some subjects that will take longer as the material is a little more detailed.
Shelly Crider
Deborah,
It seems funny....or to me at least....when I hear my own videos. Sometimes I just shake my head and wonder why I sounded like that....then I redo!!
Shelly Crider
James,
It is so nice to be able to use your ground course resources in your online classes.
Shelly Crider
I think it takes a lot more time to create an online course that it does to create an on-ground course. The reason is because for an online course all the material must be explicitly written down, whereas when it instructors giving a lecture, the instructor can add lib the content more or less. In a non-ground course, and instructor may have a broad general idea of what he or she wishes to cover and then the instructor can talk about the material as if he or she was conversing with the student. In a non-ground course, the professor may or may not provide PowerPoint presentations. It is possible for instructor provide as much material for an on-geround course as he or she would provide for an online course. It really depends upon the level and the depth of the material that the instructor uses or generates.
