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 Moodle¹.

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.com².

Essential Elements: Prepare, Design, and Teach Your Online Course³ (2002, Atwood Publishing. Bonnie Elbaum, Cynthia McIntyre, Alese Smith.)
Facilitating Online Learning: Effective Strategies for Moderators³ (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.org⁹
Phone: (978) 405-3230

Links

http://www.moodle.org/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/X1SB4BSDJG7P/ref=cm_aya_av.lm_more/103-5358557-0299803
../../publications/books.html
../../publications/books.html
http://www.concord.org/publications/books.html
http://www.josseybass.com/cda/product/0,,0787944602,00.html
http://www.josseybass.com/cda/product/0,,0787955191,00.html
http://www.concord.org/publications/books.html
http://www.concord.org/courses/designing/mailto:Cynthia@concord.org

Essential Elements: Prepare, Design, and Teach Your Online Course

"This book describes a process for designing online courses based on sophisticated learning experiences: guided inquiry, collaboration, community, and formative assessment. Its model will aid instructors in reconceptualizing their teaching to take full advantage of new interactive media."

—Chris Dede, Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

more info...

Document Location: http://www.concord.org/courses/designing/
Last Updated: 07/31/2009