The Jewish Theological Seminary
Planning a Distance Learning Course
Teaching a course online may seem like a daunting task, but with some planning and preparation, it will be much more simple.
To get started in developing your online course, answer the questions below. Feel free to print out this page and write directly on it. While some of your course content may or may not have changed over the years, it is important to continually reevaluate and reassess your curriculum. For example, what worked? What did not work?
What are my course goals? What do I want my students to learn primarily?
___ Content (facts, applications, theories, etc.)
___ Skills (writing skills, library skills, computer skills, research skills, critical thinking,
problem-solving, etc.)
___ Attitudes (appreciation for field/subject, global perspective, tolerance, etc.)
___ Other, or some specified combination of the above
At what level(s) do I want my students to perform?
___ Knowledge (ability to recall facts)
___ Comprehension (ability to understand ideas and translate them into other formats)
___ Application (ability to use ideas in particular and concrete situations)
___ Analysis (ability to dissect ideas into constituent parts to make the organization clear)
___ Synthesis (ability to integrate parts into a unified whole)
___ Evaluation (ability to judge the value of an idea, procedure, etc., using appropriate criteria)
What class activities will help my students meet these goals and levels?
___ Lecture
___ Large group discussion/problem-solving
___ Demonstration
___ Small group discussion/problem-solving
___ Library research
___ Games, simulations
___ Field research
What support will I give to my students to enhance their success in meeting these goals and levels?
___ Administrative handouts (syllabus, course policies, etc
___ Content handouts (outlines of lectures, illustrative examples, tables, charts, etc.)
___ References, bibliographies
___ Practice sessions
___ Review sessions
___ Individual conferences
What assignments will I use to evaluate the success my students have had in meeting these goals and levels?
___ Exams, quizzes
___ Presentations
___ Papers
___ Performance of skills
___ Projects
___ Other, or some specified combination of the above
How will I convey all of the above information to my students?
___ Administrative handouts (syllabus, course policies, etc.)
___ Content handouts (outlines of lectures, illustrative examples, etc.)
___ Introductory session to course
___ Pretest
___ Other, or some specified combination of the above
Now that you have given some thought to your specific curriculum, lets review some course design considerations specific to Blackboard.
What type of information do you want to use to describe the course?
A course may have a set of objectives, goals, and a syllabus that describes the purpose of the course and what the course is to cover. While not necessary, it may be helpful to provide a mission statement or objective. You may choose to include in your course menu a button that will take students to a page containing the course's description.
What supporting documents do you want students to use in the course?
Course handouts, lecture notes, images, music files, videos, Powerpoint presentations (slides), or other visual and aural aids may be used to guide and support students through the course.
Are there assignments that students are to complete? If so, what are they and when should they be complete?
Instructors have the flexibility of creating assignments on blackboard, and making these assignments become available to students at a later date. Students are able to submit assignments electronically though Blackboard, where they can be recorded through your Gradebook.
Are there Websites or other external links that students should access and review? If so, what are they?
You can use the External Links page to organize and add relevant course content and external links for your students to view (for example, the New York Times online, or Amazon.com).
Do you want to use the Discussion Board?
The discussion board is a useful tool for facilitating ongoing discussion about various topics. Examples of topics include "Question of the week," and "Questions and Answers about this week's reading."
Are there topics that could be facilitated by a discussion board that would demonstrate student understanding of the course curriculum? If so, what are they?
Do you want to use the "Virtual Classroom" tool ? If so, what types of discussions would be facilitated online?
Perhaps you want students to have the ability to go online at the same time, to use the virtual classroom to discuss a topic, or perhaps you wish to have online office hours. How might the virtual classroom be used in this course?
What types of assessments do you want your students to complete online?
Quizzes, homework, and exams are just a few types of assessments that can be completed and graded on Blackboard. Are there online-completed assessments that you want to include in this course?
Do you want students to complete an anonymous online survey of the course? If so, what type of feedback would be most useful to you?
Surveys can be used to give students the opportunity to anonymously offer feedback about what worked will in a course and what may need improving.
Do you want to organize students into groups?
Do you plan on organizing your students into a virtual study group or to collaborate on a group project? Students can be organized into smaller projects or study groups
strong>Note: The instructor has the option of giving each group its own discussion board , virtual classroom , group file exchange , and group e-mail functions.
Once you have answered these questions, click Next for some final tips for teaching online.