High Quality Online Courses : How to improve course design and delivery for your post-secondary learners

Abstract

This course enables learners to apply principles of quality design and delivery to their online courses, whether they are developing new courses from scratch, or revising or delivering existing ones. The course guides learners through the stages of course design and delivery including the conception and planning stage, the design of activities and assessments, the structuring and design of content, and finally teaching and facilitation strategies for online course delivery. A strong emphasis is placed on real-life examples, as well as interactive and hands-on activities that allow learners to come away with customized materials that they can use right away in their own courses. Content materials for this course are publicly available in the form of an Open Educational Resource through PressBook, for a self-directed learning experience. For institutions and support units wishing to offer the course in a more structured modality, a common-cartridge LMS course that guides learners through the OER content has been made available in the eCampus Ontario repository. The LMS course may be adapted for use by institutions across the province. The LMS components may be set up to result in a credential for learners, and may be delivered as either a self-paced or facilitated course.