Okay, we've got a question from Shireena about, what is your suggested structure for setting up online courses? It's sort of a two-part question, so she's asking about what information do I need to put in there to actually structure it well and engage the students? And also, she does continuing education courses, and she's asked a question about how long or what's the expiry date of those courses? If I make one, when should I remake it to keep it up to date? That's how I'm interpreting it anyway. >> Okay, all right, so the first question talking about the structure, it's a very good question. And I think in her post, Shireena has already posted some ideas. So that welcome area, for example, where you introduce some elements of the course. So I usually have that. I call it about this course, but you can call it welcome if you wish. And there I would have more of that housekeeping type of information. So, a, what is the course about? What is my philosophy behind the design of the course, whether it be this is going to be a course where it's very individually done, self paced, for example, versus a course that's supposed to be collaborative. I'm going to be expecting some sort of degree of engagement happening between students. So that's a little bit of, very brief, what the course is structured to be like and how I expect students to be engaging with it. I would also put information in there about the assessments, about if there's any late penalties for assessments, for example, having it in there. If there's any particular policies related to the students in the course, you can put links to the policies there. So all that housekeeping type of information that you really want up and central and right at the very top of your course and the very first thing that you want students to look at. So even if you're going to send out a welcome message to your students, whether it be at the beginning of the course or a week prior to say welcome to the course, you want to start off by looking at the about this course section. You provide a link to that, for example, so that just kind of sets the pace. Once you've done that, I also put in links to very specific things that I need the students to make sure they can readily access and it's usually, again, the paperwork administrative stuff. So if I want them to fill out a particular form to request an extension to an assessment, there'll be a link there for them so they can find it. Or again, links to policies, late submissions or attendance issues, all that sort of stuff. And then they've got the material blocked down. And she's also said that she chunks her material into bite-sized sections, which is great. The one thing that I always try to go for is consistency. So particularly in an online course or even in a blended course, it does help the students if it's consistent in terms of each module or each week, or have a way you divided up the course so that they know exactly where to go to find the information, to find the activities, to find the forms, the different technologies that are being used and also the content. So, yes, chunk down, but also consistent to cross really does help them. Yes. >> Yes. >> [LAUGH] >> Jump in. >> I will. I think something else that's important is to think about what you're trying to achieve in the course and what those learning outcomes are and what types of activities the students will be engaging in. Because then that will help you make the decisions about how to structure the course to support that. And I think the most important thing is not just thinking you have to fill in all the boxes in the course, but to actually decide what to have in there in direct support of what the students will be doing. One other important thing, I think, is a place for the students to talk to each other. >> Yes. >> And to ask you questions. And to also have a personal presence in there to get to know each other. And it's quite important to actually have that people presence. >> Yeah, like an ice breaker activity, for example, where at the very beginning there could be a form, a welcome form, for example. In one of the courses, I teach, I ask students to put a postcard, for example. So an example of a place that they visited, a picture of a place that they visited perhaps that they want to share, something about themselves why they're in the course, their discipline or whatever it may be. And I make sure that I go in when they have made that initial, that very first initial posting at the beginning of the semester, that I go in and I respond to them and I welcome them so they do see that there is some teacher presence, although I might not see them face to face ever. I am communicating with them and it's really getting them to make that first post realising that someone is reading it and posting it, but I also put in my instructions to encourage them to post to each other. So while I do ask them to make that initial post I also ask them to go in and make a couple of posts to each other to welcome each other into the course. And that starts to develop a sense of community. But yes, a question and answer forum for people to post and respond to, and so you can answer their questions. And also maybe even like a social forum, like a cafe or something like that, whatever you want to call it, where students can post things that are not exactly course specific, but maybe there's a particular event happening that they want to tell other people about and they can just post in there. >> Mm-hm, and I think the other thing to think about is not just what you put into the course but how you organise it. So for example, you could put all of your documents in one spot or your assessments in another spot or your lectures in another spot, but you might also think about threading them in terms of a task. >> True. >> So here's introductory content, there's the discussion about that content, then there's the assignment and then there's a submission question and answer. So there’s a couple different ways you can go, but I really do think look at the tasks, look at the activities they're going to be doing. Make sure you decide what's going to be relevant in supporting those activities and the consistency and clarity. And one final thing, because it's been a long response, is that what I found really helps Is to always be consistent in how you refer to these different sections. >> Yes. >> So you don't just say to a student, I've uploaded that lecture in the- >> Forum. >> Yeah and there's no button called Forum. >> Exactly, it's called Discussion Board, for example. >> And that really throws some people. >> Yeah. >> So consistency, clarity and it has to there for a reason. But look at the planning module we've got and continue the conversation in the forums, I think. >> Exactly.
