For Faculty

The ABCs of Online Course Design

By Lisa Leach, Ed.D., Director, Instructional Design and Curriculum Development

Designing quality online courses is complex and time-consuming. However, it is a critically important process for successful teaching and learning in the online environment. The design process is made easier if there is a clear focus on the "ABCs" of online course development: Alignment, Balance and Clarity.

Alignment: Every course, whether online or face-to-face, should have clear alignment between the written objectives, the taught content and the tested learning. What are you teaching? How are you teaching it? How will you know if students learned it? For alignment to be ensured, think carefully about each of these components:

1. Clear, written objectives. Your objectives should capture the essence of your course content. These are your learning goals for your students. They must be written in measurable terms so that you can determine whether your students met them.
2. Instruction that directly teaches the written objectives. What content delivery method(s) are you using, and does the content relate directly back to the course objectives?
3. Assessments that demonstrate whether students learned the written objectives. Assessments should tie directly back to the objectives to determine if students achieved desired learning outcomes.

Balance: To address a variety of student learning styles, it is critical that you utilize a balance of different activities and assessment strategies. Students should have opportunities to work in a style that is comfortable to them, while at other times being challenged beyond their comfort zone. This balance creates a healthy tension in your course. To provide such balance, incorporate as many of the following as is appropriate for your course:

• visuals
• video
• audio
• problem-based situations
• real-world applications
• higher-level thinking exercises and applications
• music/song lyric analysis
• creativity applications

It is also important to "chunk" content into small, manageable pieces. Shorter reading assignments, videos, etc., that are followed with an activity to apply that content are preferable in the online learning environment.

Clarity: The most common complaint from students concerning their online courses is a lack of clarity. Clear navigation, consistent layout and understandable instructions help students move through a course without difficulty. Be overt in explaining to students where to begin, what to do next, how to submit assignments, etc.

It is helpful to be overt in your explanation of several course components:

• basic technology requirements
• contact information for technical support
• assignment due dates
• a question and answer forum for students to post any issues or questions they encounter
• clear and consistent instructions for navigation through the course

As always, feel free to contact the instructional design team at elearning.id@ttu.edu for more tips on using this method—Alignment, Balance and Clarity—in your online course.