Course Syllabus

Course Description:

This course will provide the opportunity to explore the impact of distance education environments on the process of instructional design. The application of distance education theories to the practice of course development will be of primary concern. Learners will engage in hands-on experiences with distance delivery technologies, as well as the use of such systems for the design and creation of actual instructional programming. This course is project-based with a strong emphasis on active learning and student participation.

Course Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Identify demographic and socio-psychological characteristics of the distance learner
• Describe current technology-based learning environments used in distance learning and their impact on instructional design
• Select appropriate instructional design strategies based on system attributes
• Utilize a variety of interaction types for instructional communication
• Design and develop visual materials for various delivery systems
• Create an effective evaluation plan for a distance course or program

Assessment:

Complete descriptions and instructions for completing assessments will be provided when assignment is made. Dates for assignment of assessment and due dates for assessment completion will be indicated on the course schedule.

Final Grades:

All assignments receive a numeric grade. Your final grade will be converted to a letter grade as follows:

Texts:

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Materials:

Bacon ipsum dolor amet nisi labore nostrud pork chop pork short ribs fugiat, porchetta kevin lorem capicola ball tip brisket aliquip. Prosciutto tenderloin bacon, shankle esse swine kielbasa dolor pariatur reprehenderit kevin chuck beef. Ut ex t-bone venison, turkey pork loin brisket tail.

Technology:

Students in this course will need a working and reliable computer and Internet access that will allow the use of Scholar course site tools, WebEx and any online resources provided. No special software is required but students will need access to MSOffice products.

Course Structure:

This course will be taught online in Canvas with an initial real-time meeting in WebEx for an introduction to the course. Email with link and instructions on how to access WebEx course site will be sent prior to the online meeting. Our Scholar site will be available on the first day of our first class.

This course will be structured in weekly lessons beginning on Monday of each week at 5:00 PM. Interaction within the lesson will take place from Monday at 5:00 p.m. to the following Monday at 5:00 PM unless indicated otherwise in the course schedule. All work within the lesson must be completed by the close of each lesson and prior to the start of the next lesson.

Some work may span more than one lesson and some activity within a lesson may need to be completed early for additional response or interaction. All due dates for completion will be indicated in the schedule.

This course will be conducted as a learning community. According to Pallof & Pratt (1999), the key elements to the creation of a learning community are honesty, responsiveness, relevance, respect, openness, and empowerment. These will serve as the guides for our community. Therefore, students participating in this course are asked to be open to all perspectives and empowered to be honest in their timely responses to all questions, conversations, and discussions in a manner that is respectful and remains relevant to the topic or topics under discussion.

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers.

Participation: Participants in this course should expect to spend about 8-10 hours per week involved in the activities and completion of assignments over the semester. This is similar to the time one would invest in a course in a traditional classroom setting. This time invested is an average with some weeks requiring more, some less time to complete all assignments and activities. Participation will be evaluated as the completion of all activities assigned within a one-week class during that class week. Tracking of activity completion for each student will be compared to 100% completion to arrive at participation grade points.

Absences: Failure to participate for one full week constitutes an absence in one class in this online course. One unexcused absence will result in lowering of grade by 10 points. Two unexcused absences will result in a failing grade for the course. Extensions on due dates for weekly activities must be made for an excused absence. Students must notify professor of need for excused absence by second day of inactivity and prior to due date for activities or assignments or absence will be considered unexcused.

If circumstances prevent participation or timely completion, students must contact the professor to arrange for adjustments in assignment or schedule in advance of due date and not after completion date has passed.

Honor Code:

We will be bound by the Graduate Honor Code. Please visit the Graduate School Honor System’s webpage for specific information regarding expectations and policies related to the Graduate Honor Code.

Course Schedule:

The schedule shown below the syllabus section is actually a list of calendar entries and assignments/activities by the due date. For a topical schedule, you can include a link to a file or copy/paste in this text area. However, the longer this text box becomes, the more students will need to scroll down to see the chronological list of calendar events and due dates.

An example of a file linked for topical schedule can be found here at Course Schedule