and Donna M. Dick
Step 1: Know Your CMS
First of all, you need to understand the
course management system (CMS)
you will be using. Your school district
may have purchased a CMS such as
Blackboard or WebCT (which has
merged with Blackboard). If not, you
can use Moodle, an open source CMS
with similar functions and features.
Regardless of which system you use,
don’t worry about learning everything
about it. Take time to learn about
the features you will be using in your
course, especially the grade book, any
interactivity components, and the features you will use to deliver and collect assignments.
You should also understand your
chosen system’s limitations. Online
instructor Kim Hunt was able to use
the blogging tool in Moodle for the
ninth grade language arts class she
offers through the West Central Learning Academy, an online public charter
school based in Lima, Ohio. But it’s
not always so easy. For example, your
school’s version of Blackboard may
be missing one or more key features,
such as photosharing, blogs, and wikis, if your district decided not to pay
for them. Fortunately, you can plan a
work-around using free Web 2.0 tools
such as Flickr (for photosharing),
Google’s Blogger, or Wetpaint (for
building free Web sites)—unless your
district blocks these sites. One site that
most schools allow is Voice Thread, a
tool for sharing photos and stories.
Step 2: Make the Most of Modules
Once you have a solid understanding
of your CMS, you can begin organizing the course content into modules.
The modules form the overarching
concept and navigational structure
of the course, so it’s important that
their layout is intuitive and makes
sense. Concept mapping tools such as
Inspiration, Microsoft Word, or even
just a pencil
and paper can
help you create
a cognitive map
of the course.
Each module should focus
on the goals
and objectives
of the curricula
and should be organized around
three areas: course
materials, discussions, and
assignments/
activities. Divid- You can use the software program Inspiration to lay out a course’s
ing the layout this
organizational stucture.
way keeps the
content consistent and helps students
better navigate the course.
Include within each module the approximate completion times for course
tasks. This will help students gauge the
amount of work coming up and plan
their time accordingly.
Course materials. You can incorporate
Web sites, video clips, podcasts, online
articles, textbooks, and lecture notes
into the appropriate modules. When
gathering these materials, look for
ways to differentiate the instruction to
make the most of the online environment. You may decide to break up the
PowerPoint presentations you used in
the original class or to convert their
information into short video or audio
clips. For example, when students in
Hunt’s language arts course read The
Odyssey, they also get to see a video
clip about it. Teacher Tube is a great
source for videos, which are likely to
hold most students’ attention longer
than a page of text can.
Discussion. This is the key to any
course, online or face to face. Don’t
underestimate the importance of the
discussion board, as it’s your primary
tool for connecting with your students
and establishing the class dialogue. It’s
also where you can get a sense of how
well the students understand key concepts and where the course becomes a
learning community.
Each module should include a
discussion question based on the
content. How you phrase the questions is important. Take your time to
formulate them so that they require
higher-order thinking. For example,
when one of the authors was composing the discussion questions for
her online professional development
course, Digital Photography in the
Educational videos are an often overlooked source
of content that can hold students’ attention.
