Building Your Course

Plan Your Course | Build Your Course | Engage Students | Assess Students | Ensure Accessibility

In this section:

 

Supporting orientation and navigation

Create a course introduction to support learners’ comfort with the activities you’ve planned. The introduction will provide a ‘front door’ to your course and the communication protocols you establish. Design your course site to facilitate easy navigation for your students.

Key Concepts:

Take a student-centred and supportive approach
Your students may be experiencing different situations that could impact their learning. As an instructor, you play a key role in students’ learning experiences.

Consider:

Try this:

  • Include a welcome video that introduces yourself and the course, and sets a positive tone for the semester
  • Link students to tips on online learning, including Getting Ready for Online (a student-facing web resource)
  • Describe your availability and method by which students should communicate with you (e.g., email, discussion forum, online or virtual office hours) – provide flexibility by offering a variety of methods for students to connect.
  • Include an opening survey to check for students’ prior knowledge and/or experience in an online environment. (For example, are you a major or non-major? What technologies do you have available at home? How reliable is your internet access/connection?)

How to:

Ensure navigation and structure are clear
Students need to find information and materials easily to succeed in the course.

Consider:

  • Your Quercus home page can provide an effective base for the overall organization of your course.
  • Students will appreciate provision of multiple access points or repetition of key information.

Try this:

  • Ensure the home page has clear information regarding course navigation and key resources.
  • Plan overall navigation of the course for ease of use/organization/access; remove unnecessary links.
  • Include information about course participation “netiquette” or group agreements.
  • Include an FAQ page or discussion forum for general questions.
  • Create a “course tour” using video or PowerPoint to help students learn how your course site is organized on Quercus.

How to:

 

Designing student-centric course modules

Consistency in module design and pace helps students quickly understand your expectations, plan their work time more effectively and reduce their cognitive load.

Key Concepts:

Organize course content into modules and content chunks
Modules provide a linear structure that helps students navigate course content and activities. Modules can be organized by week, topic/theme, or type of activity.

Consider:

  • Sequence modules and module content to establish a clear path for activities and assignments.
  • Share expectations of the time and effort required to complete each module.
  • Present video and other digital content in short segments to maintain student attention and increase comprehension.

Try this:

  • State the core learning goals for each course module.
  • Create a learner to-do list for each module.
    • Scaffold the modules so that each one builds on the previous one
    • Create an Introductory or Course Resources module for reference items
    • Establish sequencing with Prerequisites and Requirements
  • In each module, consider including the following:
    • Content acquisition: lecture notes, readings, videos or student generated content
    • Scaffolded learning activities: examples/demonstrations; visual aids; glossary of topic-specific vocabulary
    • Check for understanding: reflections, quizzes, question and answer opportunity

How to:

Determine how course content will be provided to students
A number of strategies are available as alternatives to in-class lectures.

Consider:

  • Being realistic about the time and skills you have available to create digital lecture content is important when planning on a short timeline (Content may be created weekly on a just-in-time basis.)
  • There may be existing digital texts or open educational resources that are available at no cost online.
  • Ensure that the format of your readings is accessible to students in a remote/online environment and meets copyright compliance.
  • Planning for flexibility and accessibility should be a priority to ensure you are reaching all your students.

Try this:

  • Create simple video lectures and make them available to students on Quercus.
  • Deliver webinar lectures in real time webinars and record them for students to review after.
  • Consult with your liaison librarian to identify existing digital resources that might be used for your course or for library syllabus service.
  • Select tools from the Academic Toolbox that support your teaching and learning needs.
  • Design content for flexible access by all your students, as they will have a range of abilities, technologies and bandwidth capacity to access digital content.
  • Review “Making your content accessible” section of this document for captioning strategies.

How to:

Developed collaboratively by the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation and Online Learning Strategies – Information Technology Services at the University of Toronto (April 14, 2020).