Outline: Define objectives Break it down into lesson segments Define the measurement parameters Define projects to enhance critical thinking skills Research available resources Estimate length of the courseWOW does that sound pretty easy? Well it is a bit more complicated to put all of the pieces together and to create a course that can be easily adapted to “Distance Learning” either online or via software. The steps are the same, but the applications software and learning curve overhead make a somewhat daunting task by anyone’s standards. Many skilled educators (& trainers) shy away from distance learning for that very reason. Let’s look at what is involved:The outline is still relatively easy and most user friendly software like MS Word can be used to produce very readable outlines with full formatting.Defining the objectives is where the educator’s special skills come to play and that is not too intimidating for a professional educator.Lesson breakdown means putting the actual lesson plans into some kind of software/website package and does get into the problems of programming whether done by the educator or a third party consultant (Programmers need a lot of training to get together exactly what you want, so this isn’t a slam dunk!Measurement is always a monkey on the back of good educators who want to make sure that their designs accomplish the learning objectives they have defined. Building this element into software can be a bit of a challenge no matter who does the programming.As the learning progresses it is essential that critical thinking skills are addressed so it is important to give the student assignments that require them to do some independent thinking. This is always a challenge even when you have the opportunity to work with the student on a face to face basis. This is another one of those things that is exacerbated by that one word “distance”.Research is a double edged sword as well with the research the educator must put in to prepare a timely and significant course of study. It is also a real part of every good course to challenge the student to do research as a part of their learning so that at the end of the line they are prepared with the skills to carry on on their own examination of the subject matter in the future.Estimating the length of the course to meet your original objectives and decide whether to make it a single course or one of multiple parts means that you must take the course yourself and multiply the time you need to reach a satisfactory conclusion by a factor of maybe two or three for what will be required by to actual student who comes to the table without the kind of skills and knowledge that you already possess.OK, you say there are no surprises there so what is the deal? The deal is that there are some new (relatively inexpensive) tools available to educators that eliminate the software learning curve for both student and teacher. Two products have recently been released that integrate the writing (what educator doesn’t want to be published?) and the software to promote the independent research and critical thinking skills from the student. The measurement aspect can also be easily integrated and there is no need for a programmer! The names of the two products are “DeadEasy WOW eBook publisher and “WOWit! Software generator.You can read more detail about those products at this link and it is recommended that you do a little “Googleing” for even more information. Jim Davies is an educator who spent the las twenty plus years teaching computer applications and assisting in the course work design for early “distance learning” projects in California Community Colleges. He is now designing course work for his own enjoyment and the benefit of others online. http://dotcomwizards.com or http://the-web-professor.org
