ELearning/Course building/Building specific components

Here we provide guidelines and resources for building many of the components that make up a course. The specifics will differ with the tools you use, so we provide general steps rather than complete instructions.

This article is divided into two parts:

• Part 1: Setting up learning management system (LMS) components. While the focus here is on LMS's, the same issues are relevant regardless of how the components are created. Each section includes practical suggestions and typical setup options within the LMS.

• Part 2: Creating learning assets. Subjects include syllabus and module guides, storyboarding and acripting, content presentation, and programmed interactives.

Component control document

Portions of the control document already completed:

• The first three columns of the component control document, including a list of modules, and the components and subcomponents of each module, completed in the design phase. This section of the document constitutes a task list for the building phase.
• The fourth column, tools and output format to be used in the creation of each component, completed while reviewing the Tools section

The document should now be used for tracking the completion and operational testing of each component.

Part 1: Setting up LMS components

The particular options are from Blackboard Learn, but setup is common to all learning management systems.

Assignments

"I know that seems like spoon-feeding and, believe me, I would never consider doing that in a face-to-face graduate course. But somehow it hits the right note online because it cuts down on the confusion for students" Todd Gilman (2010).

Gilman, an experienced online college instructor, offers the following suggestions for designing effective online assignments:

• Don't expect that students will ask questions if your instructions are unclear. It is up to you to create clear instructions. Even so, instructors need to solicit questions.
• State due dates and times, including any interim dates for multi-stage assignments, the course extension policies, and consequences for late submissions.
• Clarify ambiguous terms such as, "briefly identify". Should students submit a list, or do you want expository writing? Do you have a length requirement? Be specific, as in "three to five sentences devoted to each question", or "at least 250 words". A caution though, specific length requirements may lead to flabby writing.
• If you want students to find information from a source other than your lectures and assigned readings, you need to tell them so and direct them where to look. Is Wikipedia an acceptable source, or do you want more authoritative sources like journals? State your policy upfront.
• Do you want citations and bibliography? If so, what style do you want (i.e, Chicago, MLA, APA)? New students may not know what a style looks like, so include a sample with various source types.
• Post one or model examples of well-written papers, presentations, etc. to match the assignment.

Assignment parameters

If you work within a learning management system (LMS), you will need to make decisions about the following options. If not, the list provides a helpful checklist of issues you may want to address.

Table 1. Assignment parameters
✓	Category	Required	Optional
	Assignment information	Name Instructions	Header color
	Assignment files		Attach file
	Grading		Points possible Add rubric (select, create new, create from existing) Name, type, date last edited, show rubric to students
	Availability	Make assignment available Number of attempts (single, unlimited, number)	Limit availability (display after date and time, display until date and time) Track number of student views
	Due dates	Due date and time	Accept after due date and mark late
	Recipients	All students individually Groups of students (additional options)

A column is added to the Grading Center whenever an assignment is created.

Blogs

Students can be instructed to create their own personal blogs through Wordpress.com, Google's Blogger or other provider free service, or they can be created within an LMS. Here are the parameters to consider:

Table 2. Blog parameters
✓	Category	Required	Optional
	Blog information	Name Instructions
	Blog availability	Yes No
	Blog date and time restrictions		Display after date and time Display until date and time
	Blog participation/Blog type	Individual to all students Open to the course	Allow anonymous comments
	Blog settings		Index entries (monthly, weekly) Allow users to edit and delete entries Allow users to delete comments
	Grade settings	No grading Grade: Points possible:

Discussion forums

Creating discussion questions and managing discussions are covered extensively in the Learning communities article. Here are the parameters to consider:

Table 3. Discussion parameters
✓	Category	Required	Optional
	Availability	Available (yes, no)	Date and time restrictions (Display after start date and time, Display until date and time)
	Anonymous posts		Allow anonymous posts
	Editing posts		Allow author to delete own posts (All posts, Only posts with no reply) Allow author to edit own published posts Allow post tagging Allow file attachments
	New threads		Allow members to create new threads
	Replies		Allow users to reply with quote
	Subscribe	Do not allow subscriptions Allow members to subscribe to threads Allow members to subscribe to this discussion forum (Include body of the post in the email, Include link post)
	Ratings		Allow members to rate posts
	Moderation		Force moderation of posts
	Grade	No grading Grade discussion forum: Points possible Grade threads
	Alignments		Forum alignments Thread alignments

Groups

Groups are covered extensively in the Learning communities article. Within an LMS, the Groups tool allows instructors to organize students into groups of any size. Instructors can provide communication and collaboration tools that only group members can access. Groups can be created one at a time or in sets. Groups can be designated as self-enroll, allowing students to add themselves to a group, having the instructor manually assign students to groups, or having the system create groups randomly. The options are a bit daunting for the first-time user.

Table 4. Group parameters
✓	Category	Required	Optional
	Single group: Self-enroll	Group information (Name, description, group availability: no, yes, sign-up sheet only)	Tool availability (Blogs: no grading, grade-possible points; live collaboration; discussion board; e-mail; journals: no grading, grade-possible points; tasks; wikis: no grading, grade-possible points) Module personalization setting (allow personalization) Sign-up options (Name of sign-up sheet; sign-up sheet instructions; maximum number of members; show member names; allow students to sign-in from the Groups listing page)
	Single group: Manual enroll	Group information (Name, description, group availability: no, yes, sign-up sheet only) Membership (assign individual students to member status)	Tool availability (Blogs: no grading, grade-possible points; live collaboration; discussion board; e-mail; file exchange; journals: no grading, grade-possible points; tasks; wikis: no grading, grade-possible points) Module personalization setting (allow personalization)
	Group set: Self-enroll	Group information (Name, description, group availability: no, yes, sign-up sheet only) Group set options (Number of groups, number of members in each group)	Tool availability (Blogs: no grading, grade-possible points; live collaboration; discussion board; e-mail; journals: no grading, grade-possible points; tasks; wikis: no grading, grade-possible points) Module personalization setting (allow personalization) Sign-up options (Name of sign-up sheet; sign-up sheet instructions; maximum number of members; show member names; allow students to sign-in from the Groups listing page)
	Group set: Manual enroll	Group information (Name, description, group availability: no, yes, sign-up sheet only) Membership (assign individual students to member status)	Tool availability (Blogs: no grading, grade-possible points; live collaboration; discussion board; e-mail; file exchange; journals: no grading, grade-possible points; tasks; wikis: no grading, grade-possible points) Module personalization setting (allow personalization) Group set enrollments (Randomize enrollments; assign individual students to member status for each group created)
	Group set: Random enroll	Group information (Name, description, group availability: no, yes) Membership (Determine number of groups by number of students per group or number of groups; determine how to enroll remaining members by distributing remaining members among the groups, putting remaining members in their own group, or manually adding the remaining members to groups)	Tool availability (Blogs: no grading, grade-possible points; live collaboration; discussion board; e-mail; journals: no grading, grade-possible points; tasks; wikis: no grading, grade-possible points) Module personalization setting (allow personalization) Sign-up options (Name of sign-up sheet; sign-up sheet instructions; maximum number of members; show member names; allow students to sign-in from the Groups listing page)

Journals

The uses of student journals are discussed in the Instructional events and Learning activities articles. Setting up journals within the LMS is very simple in comparison to many other tools.

Table 5. Journal parameters
✓	Category	Required	Optional
	Journal	Journal name
	Instructions	Instructions
	Availability	Yes No
	Grade settings	No grading Grading-points possible
	Date and time restrictions		Display after date and time Display until date and time
	Journal settings		Index entries monthly or weekly Allow users to edit and delete entries Allow users to delete comments Permit other students to view journal)

Live sessions

Depending on the LMS, a separate synchronous meeting tool (e.g., Collaborate, WebEx) must be operational to use this option. Live sessions occur in real time. Two options are available: chat and virtual classroom. Chat is an exchange of text messages online. Virtual classroom is a shared online environment where members can view links, share desktops, exchange files, and chat. Both types of live sessions can be recorded and saved for future review.

Table 6. Live session parameters
✓	Category	Required	Optional
	Session	Session name
	Availability	Available: yes, no	Date and time restrictions (Display after date and time, display until date and time)
	Collaboration tool	Chat Virtual classroom
	Available during the live session		Chat (Recording: record, session name; compose and send messages to the whiteboard; send private message) Virtual classroom (Recording: record, session name; folder view of course content which can be selected and displayed; whiteboard: text, drawing tools; group browser: enter and display web pages; ask question: enter a question for the question inbox; send private message; breakout rooms for small groups)

Rubrics

Approaches to establishing standards and rubrics is addressed in the Learning activities article. Creating them in the LMS is a straightforward process. Rubrics are most commonly formatted as tables to aid easy comprehension. Figure 1 below is from a Moodle LMS.

Table 7. Rubric parameters
✓	Category	Required	Optional
	General	Rubric name	Description
	Rubric detail	Rubric type (No points, points, points range {e.g., 10-20}, percent, percent range)	Show weight criteria
	Columns	Criteria	Weight (Percent, percent range only)
	Rows	Levels of achievement (e.g., novice, competent, proficient, accomplished) Scoring (Points, point range, percent, percent range)	From-to (Point and percent range only)

1. LMS rubric tool

Test, survey, question pool

Within Blackboard Learn, tests, surveys and question pools are created using the same process, though each has its own associated question settings. Tests, including self-assessments are gradable and appear in the grade center. Surveys are not graded or used to evaluate student performance. Pools are sets of questions that can be added to any test or survey.

Table 8. Test, survey, question pool parameters
✓	Category	Required	Optional
	Information	Name, instructions	Description
	Question settings	Test question settings Survey question settings Pool question settings	Feedback (provide feedback for individual answers) Images, files, and web links (add to questions, add to answers, add metadata to questions) Scoring (Specify default points, specify partial credit, specify negative point options, extra credit options) Display (Random ordering, horizontal or vertical display, numbering options)
	Create questions		Calculated formula Calculated numeric Either/or Essay File response (student uploads a file) Fill in multiple blanks Fill in the blank Hot spot Jumbled sentence Matching Multiple correct answers Multiple choice Open scale/Likert Ordering Quiz bowl Short answer True/false
	Reuse question		Create question set (groups of questions that can be presented in random order) Create random block Find questions
	Upload questions	Select file to import Points per question
	Self-assessments options		Turn a test into a self assessment (Include/exclude in grade center calculations)

Wiki

Wikis are described in the Learning activities article. Wiki parameters within the LMS include:

Table 9. Wiki parameters
✓	Category	Required	Optional
	Name	Name Instructions
	Availability	Yes No
	Date and time restrictions		Display after date and time Display until date and tinme
	Properties	Student access (View only, view and edit) Student commenting (View only, view and edit) Grade settings (Not gradable, Gradable-points possible

 

Part 2: Creating learning assets

Part 2 provides guidelines, suggestions and pointers for creating lasting learning assets to be used again and again. Because assets are intended for reuse, we can justify putting more time, effort, and money into higher production values. This means more planning and setting up, possibly multiple takes to get it right, and more editing to create tight, engaging learning experiences.

Especially in the creation of learning assets, instructional design is as much art as science. Within established guidelines lies a large degree of executional freedom. Therefore, the following are offered as sample approaches for you to accept, reject, or modify. We solicit your additions.

Syllabus and module guides

“The research on teaching and learning is consistent: the more information you provide your students about the goals of a course, their responsibilities, and the criteria you will use to evaluate their performance, the more successful they will be as students and the more successful you will be as a teacher.” (O’Brien, Millis, & Cohen, 2008)

Video production

Videos of all sorts can serve educational purposes. See Content presentation with video in the Learning activities module for a discussion of purposes. Here we provide a brief overview and set of guidelines for producing video for the web.

Storyboarding and scripting

Storyboading and scriptwriting go together like hand and glove. The storyboard is a series of sketches that communicate how to visually organize a narrative and a list of its contents. The script constitutes the verbal and behavioral actions taking place within the presentation, narrative, or story. There are several approaches you can take, depending on the nature of the project.

Animated lectures and presentations

From the author: "I’ve long been an advocate of combining audio, animation, and questioning when presenting content. Of course, it’s work so you want to use this method with enduring content."

Programmed interactions

This general term, programmed interaction, refers to any combination of user-program interaction based on user input and programmed responses. It can be as simple as moving between web pages using hypertext and as sophisticated as simulations of complex phenomena that morph with changes in variable values. Interactive components can include text, audio, video, animation, graphics, websites, and other learning objects.

How big an investment?

Return on investment is addressed under Development context, so we won't repeat ourselves here. A brief list of items favoring larger investments in time, effort, and/or money on interactives summarizes our thinking on the matter.

• The asset will be viewed/used by a large number of people
• The component is of enduring value; it's value will not fade quickly
• The concepts are complex, difficult to grasp
• The content involves important physical processes
• The content is directed at a sophisticated audience
• Learner interaction with the content is essential

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