Redesigning Courses for Online Delivery: Volume 8

Course redesign follows a four-stage process organized around key sets of considerations related to design, interaction, media, and evaluation. In this chapter, we introduce the DIME model of course redesign, a systematic approach to creating and implementing online experiences. We argue that new mental models are needed to move away from simply digitizing the in-class experience for online delivery. Online teaching and learning is unique and requires new approaches. The model puts technology in a supporting role, privileging pedagogy, and human interaction. The principal role of the instructor is explored.

Metaphor is a powerful change agent when applied to course redesign. In this chapter, we examine the influence mental models have on our thinking and the potential consequences they have for our learners. By choosing a metaphor to frame our redesign process, we reveal our ideas about our content, our learners, and our instructional style and how they fit together. This all-important first step in the redesign process can be a game changer; leading us to create the kind of learning experience we seek for our students and for ourselves. Metaphor provides means to break away from default patterns of thinking, inspiring us to play and develop new approaches to teaching and learning – facilitating the redesign necessary to bring about learning in an online context. We examine real examples of courses redesigned using metaphor, and then we embark on an exploration of other metaphors and their likely influence on decisions related to course redesign. In the end, we revise the course redesign model to include metaphor.

Instructional design involves the identification of strong learning objectives and the selection of instructional methods to accomplish them. In this chapter, we consider how to write online course objectives that will serve as a foundation for future redesign decisions. Strong learning objectives are observable, measurable, attainable, and specific. They are focused on the needs of our target audience and should fit with our instructional philosophy as reflected by our metaphor. We explore how individual differences, such as demographics, personality, past performance, and expectations can affect learner needs and preferences, which should inform learning objectives and instructional methods. We structure the design process around decisions related to four essential activities that instructional methods should facilitate: the sharing of information, the demonstration of skills, the ways for learners to practice skills, and the means to ensure learning has happened. We concentrate on selecting general methods of instruction, which we will later refine and adapt for online delivery. We walk through the DeSIGN process in detail, determining strong objectives and exploring how to use them in identifying instructional methods. Intersections between these decisions and future redesign considerations are also discussed.

Learner-centered interactions determine the look and feel of online courses, influencing the way learners experience them. In this chapter we investigate considerations related to three types of interactions: learner–content, learner–instructor, and learner–learner. Learners interact with content through the course structure and layout. They also interact with peers who may be cast in the role of community members, there to provide social support, or they may be more prominently cast as information providers and/or collaborators. The learner is at the center of both content and peer interactions. Instructor interactions set expectations for learners and facilitate learner interactions with content and peers. Instructors are instrumental forces in bringing about connections between learners, enabling the social presence necessary for collaboration. Instructor interaction may also be relational, enabling individualized connections between learners and the instructor. Redesign decisions center on creating a course structure that fits the learner and content and results in a satisfying course experience. We use the power of metaphor to bring into focus the most relevant considerations. In the end, we illustrate the redesign of a single course through the lens of three separate metaphors to demonstrate how metaphor shapes the process, bringing together design and interaction decisions to create unique and elegant course designs.

Media considerations are pedagogical rather than technological in nature. In online courses, we use technology to enable learner interaction. In this chapter, we focus on a process through which we identify media that will help bring our course to life. Technology tools come and go, quickly. While some specific tools are suggested, it is the process by which to identify and select media that is enduring. We begin with a discussion of media-enabled course activities that are used to guide the selection process. The 10 activities are organized by type of interaction they represent and the media characteristics they require. Media have affordances or functions that can be matched with identified course activities to meet learner interaction needs. These needs help to narrow the scope of our selection decisions. After exploring a variety of functions and tools, we exemplify the media selection process. We extend the work started in previous chapters by identifying media needs in light of design and interaction decisions under the playground and symphony metaphors. In so doing, we demonstrate how the phases of the redesign process inform our technology choices.

Evaluation is the process by which we estimate how things should go, explore how things are going, and determine how things went in terms of course redesign. In this chapter, we examine formative and summative methods for assessing student learning and establishing teacher effectiveness and course quality. Evaluation is a subjective, value-laden process. To introduce the rigor needed to make it meaningful, evaluation should be multifaceted, planned in advance, made transparent to learners, and employ valid and reliable methods. Moving courses online presents both opportunities and challenges for evaluation. We explore ways to implement assessment to make full use of the advantages of technology while mitigating the problems associated with online delivery.

Course redesign is a creative process that involves the four sets of considerations set out by the DIME model. In this chapter, we highlight key considerations related to design, interaction, media, and evaluation and describe the interconnections of the decisions within the model that make the process iterative. In addition, we suggest supplementary matters for your consideration. Specifically, we explore matters related to career and course management. Career considerations are strategic level concerns related to course redesign that have potentially long-term implications. Course management considerations are tactical level suggestions aimed at making your course implementation a success. Issues and suggestions are grounded in experience.