A good online course will be complete (the syllabus will include everthing that it should), clear (well-organized and accessible to students), and allow for connections (between students and content and teacher and the world beyond the course). Such courses are designed through three iterative processes:
- First, the outcomes and products are designed to ensure it is clear what students will learn and how they will demonstrate their learning;
- Second, the information that students need to learn and interactions that will help them learn are designed;
- Third, the details of how feedback will be given and how students will be evaluated are articulated.
Each step of the design process is a negotiation. Instructors and instructional designers (who have expertise in teaching, technology, and media production) discuss the best ways to leverage the capacity of the learning management system to organize the online course and structure the activities.
