Skip to main content

My Roadmap for Converting a Classroom Course to eLearning

Admittedly, my decision to undertake a project in creating an online learning course has been overshadowed with doubts about my own technical capacity to do the 'techie' stuff to make it work.  I have therefore been doing a lot of reading in preparation for this exercise, and I am presently doing the Online Course Creation Diploma Course with the UK based Centre of Excellence.

In my preparatory reading I was heartened by the proclamation from Ko and Rossen (Teaching Online: A Practical Guide, 2004) that “Techies don’t necessarily make the best online instructors. An interest in pedagogy should come first, technology second” (p. 16).   With this affirmation, I proceeded to sort through all my resources to see if I can identify definitive steps for starting the conversion process.

I soon realized that developing an online course requires more time and effort than a face-to-face course because even if you have the content in your head, or saved as a text file on your computer, you have to reconstruct all your materials to make it useful for online learning.  As a matter of fact, Elbaum et al. (2002) profess that “Preparing and designing your online course is the most time-consuming component of the online learning experience” (p. 22).  I realize that this claim is not an exaggeration.

There are many variables to consider in developing an online course. In the first place, you have to determine whether the course will be delivered as a self-paced programme or whether learners will be working with time units.  Time units in an online course engage learners with the course material, discussions, and activities in weekly intervals.  Other considerations include the course length, choosing the right technology for effectively delivering your course, converting documents into an electronic format, converting traditional classroom activities into online activities, and creating new materials such as images, videos and audio clips to engage the learners. After working through what I thought to be the most important details, I formulated my roadmap for converting a classroom course to elearning.



Over the course of the next few weeks, this is the guide that I will use to create my online course.

If you missed my previous article on elearning, check it out here:


Stay tuned!


References
Elbaum, Bonnie & McIntyre, Cynthia & Smith, Alese. (2002). Essential Elements: Prepare, Design, and Teach Your Online Course. Atwood Publishing. 

Ko, S., & Rossen, S. (2004). Teaching online: A practical guide. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tech-Savvy or Digital Literacy: Which applies to you?

Tech Savvy and Digital Literacy are not the same thing. Many people think that having the most sophisticated or expensive cellular phone and computer, or having your security system, car and washing machine connected by Bluetooth are all signs of being technology savvy.   But in truth being tech savvy really means that you have the ability to use any accessible technology to be more productive and efficient.  If you can use your computer or mobile devices to manage client calls, projects, meetings, social networking, research, blogging, bill payments, banking, shopping AND handle domestic chores - then you are tech savvy . Digital literacy on the other hand is not just about technical know-how, it is about more about knowing how to use technology in a responsible way.   One researcher at Deakin University describes Digital literacy as "the ability to identify and use technology confidently, creatively and critically to meet the demands and challenges of...
Post a Comment
Read more

I Trashed My Course Conversion Scheme - Here's Why

In July 2020, I embarked on a professional learning journey to convert one of my face to face courses into an online course.  I took the time to carefully craft a road map to achieve this feat with all the enthusiasm of a naive, excited, undergrad taking on a first time internship experience and expecting to apply all the things I studied at university. For initial conversion I selected an academic course named Caribbean Travel and Tourism so that I can learn the rudiments of building an online course using materials meant for face-to-face learning.  But as I began to follow my plan, and started to think about how to use existing materials to teach the course online, my bravado faltered.  How can I possibly preserve the rich and sometimes heated interactions and in-class discussions that derive from hot topics such as the impacts of mass tourism on small island states, cultural and heritage effects on tourism, or the economic dependence of tourism in some Caribbean coun...
1 comment
Read more

Which Works for 2020 & Beyond: Micro Certifications, Vocational Qualifications, or a University Degree?

We all know that the effects of the Covid crisis are profound and that all forms of learning have been affected, especially amongst the most vulnerable social groups.  Ironically, during the lockdown, half of the top ten in-demand occupations in five English-speaking countries required no more than a high school diploma (OECD, 2020).   Research from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicates that when the large scale lockdowns were implemented globally, the occupations that saw an increase in job postings tended  to  include–but  were  not  limited  to – health  care,  food production  and  distribution,  law  enforcement,  critical  infrastructure,  public  safety  and  manufacturing  of personal protective equipment.  Whereas a degree was preferable for some positions, a two‑year associate’s degree was sufficient. In many cases, a high-sch...
Post a Comment
Read more