3.1 Module overview

Transcript  (PDF)| Video length ~ 2 min.

Welcome to Module 3! In this module, we continue the design and development work we started in Module 2 (where we focused on activity and assessment design). Here, we turn our attention to course structure and content design and development.

You will be asked to think about the following key questions:

• Have I structured my course in a way that makes learning materials and assessments easy to find?
• Are modules and topics clearly labelled and organized?
• Are activities and assessments well-paced across the term?
• Does the course include opportunities for learners to practice working with content?
• Is content presented in ways that avoid cognitive overload and that help learners select, organize, and integrate new knowledge with prior learning?
• Are learning materials accessible to all learners?
• Have I included strategies to enhance motivation, retention, and transfer?
• Have I made use of relevant open educational resources (OERs)?

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, you should be able to

• structure your course in a way that is clear and easy to navigate;
• present content in ways that facilitate and motivate learning;
• implement principles of equity, inclusivity, and accessibility into your course design; and
• use open educational resources (OERs) as part of your content delivery strategy.

Key terms

The following is a list of key terms that you might find useful to review prior to working through the module content:

Sections in this module

You can jump to any of the sections in this module by clicking the links below or using the left-side navigation menu.

3.2 Module examples, strategies, and templates
3.3 Structuring your course
3.4 Gaining learner attention (Event 1)
3.5 Presenting the content (Event 4)
3.6 Enhancing retention and transfer (Event 9)
3.7 Using open educational resources (OERs)
3.8 Summary: Learner-centred course structure and content
3.9 Resources for further study
3.10 Bibliography

Activities in this module

The module activities are designed to help you structure your online course and begin to design your content. For ease of use, clicking the provided links will allow you to jump directly to the location of the course where the activity is located.

• Create a course schedule: Provide an overview of the topics, learning activities, assessments, and due dates for each week of the course.
• Create a module overview page: Orient learners to what is expected of them in that module or week.
• Attend to this topic! Create a list of strategies to capture your learners’ attention for each module in your course.
• Create an online-content storyboard: Develop a storyboard for one topic in your course.
• Curate a list of open educational resources (OERs): Assemble a list of OERs to use for some (or all) of your online content.