Welcome!
Whether you are an instructor, an instructional designer, or part of a team creating an online course, this workbook is for you. We are excited that you are reading our workbook, The New Roadmap for Creating Online Courses: An Interactive Workbook, and we are delighted to share our new course creation process with you. As you prepare and create your online course, we believe that you will find this experience to be unique and engaging.
In line with the new roadmap, we introduce the workbook theme of a journey, specifically your learning journey. You are embarking on a journey of discovery and learning that is truly different. This workbook is not just a step-by-step description of what to do to create an online course for adult learners. Rather, as our title promises, it is an interactive workbook. You are encouraged to actively participate in learning activities and connect with others, which will lead you to the creation of your online course.
The new roadmap is deeply influenced by a synthesis of learning theory, research, and our and our colleagues’ personal experiences in developing and facilitating online courses. To aid your application of these ideas, this workbook is designed to mirror an online course to the extent possible. We model what we ask you to do as you prepare and create your course. In addition, we include examples of others’ work from various disciplines.
In this workbook, you will find both the familiar and the new. We ask you to be curious and to keep an open mind as you explore this new information. We encourage you to reach out to others and share your thoughts about what you are learning. By connecting with others, you will reinforce the interactive aspect of learning and build a community as you create your course. Going on a journey always involves some degree of flexibility and change in the way we think and feel, and in the actions we take. It also engenders a sense of anticipation and excitement. We wish you a positive learning experience and a productive journey.
Enjoy the journey with us,
Catherine R. Barber, Janet K. McCollum, and Wendy L. Maboudian
Your Guides
Your guides: (l–r) Wendy L. Maboudian, Catherine R. Barber, Janet K. McCollum.
We are a team of experienced instructors and designers who have a passion for and extensive experience in creating and teaching meaningful online courses. We have consulted, presented, and published on teaching and learning in higher education. Our online courses have been nationally recognized for their exemplary features. We provide online learning consulting to faculty and organizations that work with adult learners.
Catherine R. Barber, Ph.D., is a psychologist and associate professor in the School of Education and Human Services at the University of St. Thomas, where she has been recognized with faculty awards for teaching and research. She also serves as the chair of an online education taskforce at the University of St. Thomas. Catherine has published in the fields of both psychology and education. She is the recipient of a Blackboard Exemplary Course Award and a Blackboard Catalyst Award for Teaching and Learning.
Janet K. McCollum, Ed.D., is the director of QEP and Core Assessment at the University of St. Thomas and serves on the online education taskforce. Previously, she was director of research and assistant professor in the School of Education and Human Services. Janet has created and taught online courses in business and education and has held numerous training and development leadership positions in a variety of organizations. She has presented and published in the areas of organization behavior and education. Janet is the recipient of a Blackboard Exemplary Course Award and a Blackboard Catalyst Award for Teaching and Learning.
Wendy L. Maboudian, Ed.D., is an instructional designer in education and industry. She currently designs faculty instruction for the Houston Independent School District. She has worked with faculty at Houston Community College to help them design academic and workforce online courses, including model courses for use throughout the college system. Wendy has taught instructional design at the University of Houston and has presented her methods of online design at meetings and conferences. Her passion is the use of visual representation, scenarios, and characters in online course creation to enhance learning.
Exploring the TerrainIt’s in the numbers. The need for quality online courses is growing. In the United States, 31.7 percent (6,294,801) of postsecondary students enrolled in degree-granting institutions took at least one distance education course in 2016, the most recent year for which data are available. Overall, 16.7 percent (3,322,186) took at least one distance education course in conjunction with traditional classroom courses, and 15 percent (2,972,186) took only distance education courses (US Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, 2018). In light of these numbers, the importance of creating high-quality online courses becomes clear from both an ethical and an educational point of view.
No difference between learning online and in classroom settings. In their literature review, Shelley, Swartz, and Cole (Reference Shelley, Swartz and Cole2007) cited multiple studies that generally found no significant differences between online and traditional classroom settings regarding student satisfaction and learning. In addition, the specific findings of Shelley et al.’s (Reference Shelley, Swartz and Cole2007) study comparing traditional and online business law classes mirrored the findings of other studies they reviewed. However, given the increasing demand for online courses and the rapidly changing online environment, continued research is warranted.
Delivery formats and learning outcomes. Another consideration that seems to be relevant to the creation and delivery of online courses is whether similar learning outcomes can be used across delivery formats: traditional classroom, a hybrid mix of classroom and online, and online only. In an attempt to shed light on this question, Drew (Reference Drew2014) undertook a case study of an international business course that was offered in Australia and at two international locations, Singapore and Hong Kong. Drew found that although the same student learning outcomes can apply across delivery formats, other areas may need to be modified to accommodate specific course delivery formats.
Workbook Overview
This workbook is divided into three major parts that reflect our Change-adept Course Creation Process: prepare, create, and revise. This process is flexible, iterative, and non-linear.
To aid your understanding of key concepts and processes, we share helpful hints, stories, and examples along the way. We provide you with relevant learning activities to help you create your online course. In addition, we have included resources to support your understanding of the adult learning and course creation processes.
These resources include in-depth, evidence-based information and/or surprising tidbits that can be found in Exploring the Terrain. We share our reflections that illustrate lessons we learned in the process of writing this workbook in Notes from Our Journey. We include Travel Advisories to draw your attention to reminders, cautions, or important information.
In addition, you will be asked to jot down in Your Travel Journal your self-reflections about what you have learned, surprises you have encountered, and any thoughts and feelings you have about your journey. To foster deeper learning, you will be prompted to Call a Colleague to engage in a dialogue about your online course creation process.
Workbook Chapter Preview
The Prepare section includes Chapters 2–5. As the section name suggests, these chapters focus on preparing you to undertake the work of creating an online course.
In Chapter 2: Prepare Yourself, you will prepare yourself for your journey by exploring self-reflective practice and the role of mindfulness. Self-reflection and mindfulness are important skills that are integral to learning. You are given the opportunity to engage in self-reflection throughout the workbook. In this chapter, you will also consider the impact of instructor presence on your adult learners.
In Chapter 3: Adult Learning Principles, we explain that all postsecondary learners are adult learners. You will explore our view of adult learning that includes cognitive, social, and emotional aspects. These three aspects are then woven into our adult learning process. A discussion of adult learning assumptions follows, with suggestions on how to apply those assumptions in your online course. We also introduce the application of semiotics for inclusion of diverse learners. We conclude the chapter by highlighting the importance of resources and the impact of power on your learners, and addressing the validity of some commonly held beliefs about learning.
In Chapter 4: Course Destination, you will choose the course you will work on. You will identify the contexts of your adult learners and decide how these contexts will influence your course creation. You will also choose topics and skill areas for your course as well as a course destination and possible theme to unify your course.
In Chapter 5: Course Map, you will draw a course map that provides you with an overview of your course topics and helps you more easily identify missing topics, irrelevant topics, and important connections that are not easily visible in an outline. You will group topics together based on the connections you have identified and finalize your course theme.
The Create section includes Chapters 6–11. As the section name suggests, these chapters focus on creating the elements of your online course. By the end of this section, you will have a complete online course that is ready for your online learners.
In Chapter 6: Milestones, you will choose summative milestones, which provide tangible evidence of learners’ knowledge of the topics and acquisition of skills at the end of a learning activity.
In Chapter 7: Learning Activities, you will begin creating a learning activity, which is the vehicle through which course topics are learned, skills are strengthened, and milestones are achieved, leading learners to the course destination. Learning activities involve self-reflection, dialogue, and application within the context of a realistic, relevant, and meaningful experience. In this chapter, you will explore experiential and collaborative strategies for developing learning activities.
In Chapter 8: Resources, you will select resources for your learning activity. Resources are sources of information that support learning. You will apply adult learning principles to the resources you select.
In Chapter 9: Feedback, you will choose the focus and timing of your formative and summative feedback. You will determine how peer feedback will be incorporated into your course and how learners will use the feedback. You will create or revise a feedback tool to use in your learning activity, which you will finalize in this chapter.
In Chapter 10: Course Structure, you will create an itinerary for your course and create additional learning activities to ensure a full but manageable itinerary. You will create a learner feedback survey for gauging learners’ responses to the course. In this chapter, you will also create a layout for your course modules.
In Chapter 11: Course Start Here, you will create the Start Here for your course by choosing welcome and engagement strategies as well as orientation strategies. You will end the chapter by uploading all of your course items to your learning management system (LMS).
The Revise section includes Chapter 12. This section focuses on a critical but often overlooked part of the course creation process: revising your course based on the feedback you receive.
In Chapter 12: Course Evaluation and Revision Plan, you will review each module you have created, as well as your course as a whole. You will consider circumstances that may require you to revise your course during the semester, when learners are actively taking the course. You will then develop a plan for evaluating your course, drawing on various sources of feedback data.
As you can tell from the description of the chapters, you will have created an online course that is ready to upload into your LMS. Your institution’s LMS support team will assist you in the process of uploading the course and making the course available to your learners.
Travel Advisory: What’s Not Included in this Workbook
Travel Advisory: What’s Not Included in this Workbook Notice that the focus of this workbook is on creating your online course, not putting the course in the LMS. While we realize that putting your course in the LMS is the critical last step in the process, we do not provide specific technical information and instructions on this step because of the variety of LMSs. Each LMS has its own features, structure, and behind-the-scenes technical details that constantly change. No two LMSs are alike. In addition, many institutions have policies that dictate certain common features for all online courses. Early in the process, find out what policies your institution has for these required features so you can include them as you create your course.
Workbook Orientation
We have stated that this workbook is different. But how? Let’s review the title, The New Roadmap for Creating Online Courses: An Interactive Workbook, for some hints on how it is different. “New Roadmap” sets the expectation of something new. What’s new? “Creating Online Courses” indicates that one difference is the use of the term “create” rather than the traditional “design.” What’s that all about? Then we see the word “Interactive” paired with “workbook.” How can a print-based workbook be interactive? Now, hopefully, you are intrigued. As you experience this workbook, you will discover the answers to these questions.
You will see words throughout the workbook that reinforce our theme of a journey. These carefully chosen words also serve as a reminder that this workbook presents a “new roadmap” to course creation. The use of workbook destination and milestones illustrates this point.
Workbook Features: Destination, Milestones, and Skill Areas
The workbook destination is the overarching goal of the workbook: your creation of an online course. Everything that you do in this workbook leads to this destination.
Milestones are tangible products that you create as a result of accomplishing the learning activities. Milestones indicate your progress toward the workbook destination. There are five milestones in this workbook:
Course Map (Chapter 5)
Learning Activity (Chapter 9)
Online Course (Chapter 11)
Course Evaluation and Revision Plan (Chapter 12)
End-of-Journey Self-Reflection (Epilogue)
To accomplish the milestones, you will gain practice in four skill areas that are not topic- or discipline-specific. These skill areas enhance and support your growth and development as an instructor:
self-reflective practice
dialogue and collaboration
use of the Change-adept Course Creation Process (prepare, create, and revise)
incorporation of adult learning principles into your course.
Other Workbook Features
Table 1.1 shows the main features you will encounter during your journey through this workbook. Taken individually, you may find some of these features in other books. However, we believe that the way we have integrated these features creates a unique workbook.
Table 1.1 Workbook features and descriptions
| Features | Descriptions |
|---|---|
| Customizable workbook | By jotting down your reflections on your experiences, ideas, and summaries of your dialogues with colleagues, you will create your own personal narrative of your journey through the Change-adept Course Creation Process, noting changes and learning along the way. |
| Change-adept Course Creation Process | The course creation process that guides this workbook includes three parts: prepare, create, and revise; is non-linear, iterative, and flexible; and incorporates the adult learning principles. |
| Grounded in theory, research, and experience | The workbook applies theory, research, and our and others’ experiences to inform the Change-adept Course Creation Process. |
| Focus on adult learners | The workbook focuses exclusively on creating courses for adult learners. |
| Adult learning principles | Adult learning principles include our view of learning: cognitive, social, and emotional; the reflective, dialogic learning process that leads to shared understanding; adult learning assumptions; and semiotics for inclusion of diverse learners. |
| Mirrors an online course to the extent possible | The workbook structure, destination, theme, milestones, and learning activities are similar to those found in an online course. |
| One coherent, concrete example used throughout | One example throughout the workbook provides a coherent way to follow the thought process and actions involved in course creation. |
| Examples of course elements from various disciplines | Examples from a variety of disciplines demonstrate the potential and broad applicability of the Change-adept Course Creation Process. |
| Semiotics | We recognize the multiple meanings of words, images, and other symbolic aspects, and how those meanings affect learners’ experiences. Application of semiotics is integral to creating a learning community in which diverse learners are appreciated and included. |
| Your Travel Journal (self-reflective practice) | The workbook supports the development of your mindful reflective practice. A space is provided for you to jot down your self-reflection on your ideas, concerns, feelings, and ah-ha moments. This feature models a self-reflective technique you can use with your learners to encourage them to develop their own reflective practice. |
| Call a Colleague (dialogue) | The workbook supports the process of learning through dialogue. A space is provided for you to jot down a summary of key points that you learn during your dialogues with colleagues about the course creation process. |
| Notes from Our Journey | We provide descriptions of our experiences creating and facilitating our own online courses and experiences from our journey as we created this workbook. |
| Exploring the Terrain | We share research-based information relevant to the course creation process. You may find some surprises along the way. |
| Travel Advisory | The workbook includes reminders, cautions, and other important information that may require your attention as you create your course. |
We encourage you to identify these workbook features as you progress through the workbook and consider how they may inform your own course creation.
Terminology: Your Translation Guide
As you may have noticed in this chapter, sometimes we use different words to express familiar meanings (e.g., destination means the overarching course goal). Our rationale is twofold. First, using words that relate to a journey helps to unify the workbook and serves the additional purpose of reinforcing our theme of a journey – something special and out of the ordinary, but with a specific destination.
The second, and perhaps more important, reason is to promote your mindful reading of and engagement with the workbook. Changing words to fit the theme of a journey serves to remind you (the reader) and us (your guides) to pause and consider the intended meaning. This pause to consider the intended meaning is important because many of the ideas presented in this workbook may be new or, if familiar, incorporate new nuances in their meaning. Please note that our chosen words have been carefully considered, debated, and, ultimately, agreed upon as necessary to convey our intended meaning and to promote your mindful attention. Table 1.2 presents the terms and definitions used in this workbook.
Table 1.2 Workbook terms and definitions
| Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
| Actions | Elements of a learning activity: self-reflection, dialogue, application |
| Adult Learning – Our View | Cognitive, social, and emotional aspects, all of which are required for learning to occur |
| Adult Learning Principles | Our view of adult learning, including cognitive, social, and emotional aspects; the adult learning process; adult learning assumptions; and semiotics for inclusion of diverse learners |
| Adult Learning Process | Begins with a question or statement to a group of two or more learners, generating a dialogue that can lead to the emergence of shared understanding |
| Character | Visual representation of a fictional person or object that supports and/or guides learners throughout the course |
| Course Destination | Overarching course goal |
| Course Map | A mind map that shows the connections among the main topics of the course |
| Course Structure | The way the course is organized |
| Essential Information | Information that all learners are expected to learn |
| Feedback (formative and summative) | Information provided to learners about their progress (formative feedback) or final result (summative feedback) |
| Itinerary | Sequence and timing of learning activities that informs the course structure |
| Learning Activity | A combination of actions taken to learn course topics and practice skill areas, resulting in the accomplishment of milestone(s) |
| Milestones | Tangible results of a learning activity that represent learners’ progress toward the course destination |
| Resources | Sources of information that support learning |
| Scenario | Realistic, relevant, and meaningful context for a learning activity, milestone, and/or entire course |
| Semiotics | Examination of important, differing interpretations of meaning |
| Skill Areas | Broad skills that cut across topics (e.g., critical thinking, teamwork, writing) |
| Theme | A unifying idea, meaningful metaphor, or storyline that engages learners and helps them see connections among the topics |
| Topics | Broad areas of information |
Icons
You are probably already familiar with the use of emoticons when you send a text message to someone. Just as emoticons quickly convey information in a graphical form, icons serve the same function in a book or course: quick identification of repeated important information or features. Notice how we use icons throughout this workbook to convey meaning.
One other consideration about icons is that they can support your course theme, thereby providing continuity throughout your course. Once we identified our theme of a journey, we began to consider what icons would support the theme, organize information, and create visual interest. We designed our own icons to support our theme.
Table 1.3 presents an icon key for this workbook. As you review the icons and their meanings in the table, think about how the icons also support the theme of a journey.
Table 1.3 Icon key
The Change-adept Course Creation Process
The Change-adept Course Creation Process is central to this workbook. You will use this process throughout this workbook as you create your course. A visual depiction (Figure 1.1) and description of the process follows.
Figure 1.1 The Change-adept Course Creation Process.
First, we want to call your attention to the name of the process: “The Change-adept Course Creation Process.” It is of the utmost importance that you understand the words in the name of this process. The term “change-adept” is made up of two words. The word “adept” means “skilled.” Thus, we are interested in becoming “change-adept” or “skilled at changing” and to use that skill to create successful online courses.
“Course Creation” is the second part of the name of the process. We chose “course creation” rather than the traditional term “course design” because course creation holds the promise of possibilities, allowing new, creative ideas to emerge within the course, which leads to greater learning.
Last but not least, the word “process” indicates movement and change that occur naturally. This particular process has the additional characteristics of being iterative, non-linear, and flexible. Although the process follows the general pattern of prepare, create, and revise, it can just as easily move in different directions depending on what you discover from your self-reflection and dialogue with others.
Let’s take a moment to consider the difference between the Change-adept Course Creation Process and a traditional instructional design model such as the ADDIE model (Branson et al., Reference Branson, Rayner, Cox, Furman, King and Hannum1975; Schlegel, Reference Schlegel1995).
ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) was originally developed for the US Army by the Center for Educational Technology at Florida State University in 1975 (Clark, Reference Clark2015). As this model evolved over the years, its use spread beyond designing training for the military to designing training for businesses and large-scale academic programs (e.g., the Open University programs in the UK). At this point, ADDIE is one of the most widespread models of instructional design and is the foundation of various other instructional design models modified to address ADDIE’s perceived weaknesses.
ADDIE is viewed as the professional standard for instructional design because it has been successful in ensuring
good quality design, with clear objectives, carefully structured content, controlled workloads for faculty and students, integrated media, relevant student activities, and assessment strongly tied to desired learning outcomes … [ADDIE] allows these design principles to be identified and implemented on a systematic and thorough basis.
If ADDIE is the professional standard for instructional design, why are we suggesting a change in the way we approach instructional design? We believe that ADDIE has served us well in the past, but we are now entering an era in which the learning landscape is complex, rapidly changing, and, at times, uncertain and ambiguous. In addition, our adult learners are more diverse and expect relevant experiences and choices in how they learn. This dynamic environment requires flexibility as we create online courses. Flexibility is not inherently part of ADDIE. This recognized weakness has led to modifications that include rapid prototyping, agile approaches, and other remedies.
Even though ADDIE has evolved over time, it is still influenced by its roots: designing large-scale projects that tend to be formal and mechanistic, including many moving parts and many people performing specialized functions to manage. Given this history and the current speed of change, we believe that ADDIE may no longer effectively address the course creation needs of postsecondary institutions.
We believe that the Change-adept Course Creation Process better fits your needs because it allows you to respond swiftly and flexibly when course changes are required.
The Role of Self-Reflection in this Workbook
Reflection gives you time to stop and consider. Periodically, we will ask you to reflect on various aspects of what you have learned or actions you have taken. You can jot down your thoughts, ideas, and feelings in Your Travel Journal. Our rationale for asking you to jot down your reflections throughout the workbook is twofold:
By noting your reflections throughout your journey, you will create a historical narrative of your thoughts and insights, and how they developed and changed over time. At the end of the workbook, after your course is created, we will suggest that you review your reflection notes to see if you can identify patterns that emerged and/or changed. By creating your own personal narrative of your reflections during your journey, you may discover ways to customize this process to help you create even more robust online courses.
You are more likely to jot something down if it is easy to do and a natural part of the flow of engaging with the information in the workbook. This technique to encourage reflection can be adapted for use in your course.
Furthermore, we will provide questions to help guide your reflection. As you progress in your self-reflective practice, you may decide to create your own reflection questions that are more meaningful to you. Self-reflection is all about you exploring and learning about you!
Your Travel Journal: A Reflection at the Beginning of Your JourneyIn the space provided, jot down your reflections. As you go through the workbook, come back to this initial reflection to see what has changed as a result of your journey.
Call a Colleague: Your Colleague Contact ListThroughout this workbook, you will be prompted to Call a Colleague. We encourage you to engage with your colleagues because dialogue is a necessary part of the learning process. Take a moment to identify who you might call for a conversation about the following topics. Then jot down their names and contact information in the space provided.
| Topic | Colleague(s) and contact information |
|---|---|
| Your learners – who they are and what they might need | |
| Resources – what colleagues use, why, what is available online | |
| Technical support – where you can go for help | |
| Course creation ideas – what might work in your course | |
| Other topics (e.g., media, resources) |
Workbook Roadmap
The workbook roadmap gives you a different view of the information in the workbook. The workbook roadmap (Figure 1.2) illustrates the connections among the topics covered in this workbook. This view provides a different perspective than the linear view provided by the table of contents.
Figure 1.2 Workbook roadmap.
Looking at Figure 1.2, you can see that the workbook destination is placed at the center of the map. The three main topics – prepare, create, and revise – are shown, along with the important information presented in each topic. The lines and arrows show the connections between the information within each topic and across topics. You will create a course map similar to the workbook roadmap.
Start Here: Summary
In this first chapter, you have experienced a version of Start Here, an introductory strategy that we use in our online courses to welcome and orient learners to the course. Recall that you have experienced the following introductory information and activities:
a welcome letter
an introduction to the authors (guides)
a discussion of the justification for online courses
an overview of the workbook
an orientation to the workbook that included workbook destination (overarching goal), skill areas, milestones, and other features
the new approach to course creation (the Change-adept Course Creation Process)
an orientation to the workbook including terminology, icons and their meanings, and the workbook roadmap illustrating the topics and their connections
a Travel Journal self-reflection and Call a Colleague preparation for engaging with colleagues.
As you can tell from the list of information and activities above, the overall purpose of Start Here is to welcome you, set expectations, provide a general orientation to the workbook, and provide a clear view of the journey ahead and your destination.
You are now ready to begin Chapter 2: Prepare Yourself!
