Designing and Teaching Online Courses

Designing and Teaching Online Courses is a six-week, moderated online course that teaches the pedagogy, methodology, and facilitation methods necessary for effective instruction in the online environment. Designing and Teaching Online Courses (DATOC) is a scheduled asynchronous netcourse offered over the Internet in Moodle.

Who should take this course?

• Pre-service teachers
• Secondary teachers
• Higher education teaching professionals
• Those who are already teaching online and want to learn more

What you'll learn

• About the philosophy and pedagogy of netcourses
• How to foster community-building and collaborative learning in an online course
• How to facilitate an online dialogue to deepen the learning
• How to use the Web as a resource for your online course
• How to evaluate students' progress in an online course

You'll experience being a student in an online environment, which will help you understand what your own students are going through when you become a 'Net teacher.

You'll create a course syllabus for your future online course (or transform your current face-to-face syllabus to work in the online environment), practice moderation techniques by leading group discussions, create online teacher resources, and participate in collaborative activities. Experienced facilitators will monitor your progress, grade assignments, and act as models and mentors.

Participation requirements

• Post in online discussions three days per week
• Participate in collaborative activities
• Complete assignments, read chapters from provided books
• Engage in 5-10 hours online and offline activities per week

Course materials

The following texts are required. They are available at Amazon.com.

• Essential Elements: Prepare, Design, and Teach Your Online Course (2002, Atwood Publishing. Bonnie Elbaum, Cynthia McIntyre, Alese Smith.)
  
  
• Facilitating Online Learning: Effective Strategies for Moderators (2000, Atwood Publishing, Madison, WI. George Collison, Bonnie Elbaum, Sarah Haavind, Robert Tinker.)
  
  
• Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom: The Realties of Online Teaching (2001, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco. Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt)

Facilitator

Cynthia McIntyre holds a master's degree from Harvard University Divinity School, where she specialized in education. An online course designer and instructor, she has researched, designed and facilitated professional development courses for the Virtual High School and the Concord Consortium for over seven years. She has written articles on online pedagogy and edited a book, InquiryWorks: Real Teachers, Real Stories, which highlights secondary teachers bringing inquiry into their classrooms. With Alese Smith and Bonnie Elbaum, she has co-authored a book on online education, entitled Essential Elements: Prepare, Design, and Teach Your Online Course (Atwood Publishing, 2002).

cynthia@concord.org phone: 978-371-3496