…for Course Designers

This page features a collection of carefully selected resources specific to course design for online and blended courses. Each resource is categorized by type, identified by the icon to the right of each description.

1) An excellent site created by Contact North to serve faculty and instructors of post-secondary institutions in Ontario, Canada is The Ontario Online Learning Portal. It’s an open resource that provides numerous tools and information on the latest research and trends in online education. The site hosts a series ‘Game Changers‘—case studies from institutions around the world who are implementing innovative methods in online education. The most practical resources for course designers can be found in the ‘Tips and Tools’ section. Educators will find useful tools in downloadable formats including template to plan online learning, and 10 Principles to Select Technology.

2) Big Dog & Little Dog’s Performance Juxtaposition site is the mother of all instructional design sites. Though it does feature advertising in the most annoying places on its pages, the depth and breadth of the content make it worth the [minor] aggravation. A warning though, one can get lost on this site in the labyrinth of pages, though the tabs at the top of the page are an excellent guide to topics as is the site map with its Table of Contents.

3) Penn State a pioneer in online learning, features (open) web pages dedicated to course design on their site, Instructional Design Resources. It’s a treasure trove of resources and tools for course designers and online educators.

4) Instructionaldesign.org is a good reference site providing the basics of instructional design [ID] and learning theories. It includes a glossary of ID terms and a list of several instructional design models. What I find most valuable is the comprehensive listing of learning theories. Each theory is described in-depth; including the principles and examples of application in education settings.

5)  This PDF paper from the Avetica weblog appears to be a student’s research project [thesis perhaps?] about online learning [there is no ‘about’ page; thus it’s unclear]. I found this paper Summary of Quality e-learning: Designing pedagogically effective web-based environments for enhancing student online learning in higher education on the blog; it’s worthy of review and consideration for anyone involved in instructional design. It describes a model for online course design I have not seen elsewhere—IDOL, developed by Siragusa (2005) after completing a study on effective design principles and learning strategies for higher education students.

“Teachers and instructional designers can use it to design, develop, evaluate and refine their e-learning environments. The IDOL model (Instructional Design for Online Learning) is accompanied with 24 dimensions/ recommendations that accommodate varying pedagogical needs of learners as well as varying modes of course delivery; entirely online to online learning provided as a supplement to face to face learning. The model is based upon Reeves and Reeves’ (1997) model for creating pedagogically effective online learning environments. IDOL contains 24 pedagogical dimensions which are divided into 3 categories: analysis, strategy and evaluation”.