Basic Development Standards
Here are 8 standards for good practice in course design for
online instruction. We recommend that you check your own course
against these standards.
#1 - COMMON HOME PAGE
Instructional Designers at Marshall University Online strive to
design pages for all courses that have a similar look and
similar navigational strategies. Our student instructional
designers will create your course pages for you, and will give you
any assistance you may need.
If you need course design help, please contact our instructional
designers at x7117
#2 - COURSE SYLLABUS
Your course syllabus for your online class or classes must
include the same syllabi items you would include for the traditional
classes you would teach at Marshall. The online course syllabus must
contain additional information related to online course instruction
and delivery. Click here for
a generic syllabus with all the required items.
#3 - STUDENT COURSE ORIENTATION
Information must be included on your online course homepage to
orient the students as to (1) how your course is structured and (2)
how online tools are used in the course. We suggest building in a
clearly labeled set of course orientation instructions such as a
page called "orientation" or "start here." Our student instructional
designers will create the orientation instructions for you and will
give you any assistance you may need.
If you need course design help, please contact our instructional
designers at x7117
#4 - STUDENT INTERACTION
Where applicable, we strongly recommend that you build into your
course a means for students to interact with each other and
with you. Online discussion and chat are two methods of
doing this. Your role in online discussions can take various forms:
you can set the initial question and provide prompts, intervene when
necessary, or just turn the students loose.
PLEASE NOTE: For courses taught completely online,
mandatory face-to-face activities and meetings should not
be scheduled.
#5 - STUDENT DEADLINES AND INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK
We highly recommend that you set up regular deadlines for
assignment submission and exams, much like the deadlines you may use
in a traditional class. This helps students maintain a consistent
pace for completing course work. It is especially important to
require a very early assignment or a message from the student to the
instructor. The sooner students start their work, the more likely
they are to finish.
Online students expect quick response. Please be sure
to be very clear on when students may expect feedback. Please
maintain frequent and regular communication online with students
throughout the semester, and alert them if you will be temporarily
unavailable.
#6 - USE APPROPRIATE ONLINE MATERIALS
We encourage faculty to take advantage of all electronic media
that is available and appropriate for your course content. Since web
pages often change, faculty need to monitor the links you use
regularly. All the links that you use for instruction must be in
good working order.
As you plan the content for an online course, please consider:
- Are the file sizes appropriate (not too large) and download
times worth the wait?
- Are audio clips and video clips supported by text for the
disabled?
Copyright issues are extremely important. As the course
instructor, it is your legal responsibility to identify copyrighted
materials used in your courses and to cite it appropriately or
obtain written permission to use it--before the beginning of the
course. The course must be in compliance with the TEACH act.
Visit our Copyright Basics page
for detailed information.
#7 - COURSE EQUIVALENCE
An online course is equivalent to a traditional class except in
the delivery format. Courses offered at Marshall University Online
are the same as traditional courses, with equivalent objectives and
outcomes. We recommend that you encourage your students to spend an
equivalent amount of time preparing for and participating in an
online course as they would spend in a traditional class.
#8 - HIGH QUALITY COURSE
Posting material to the Internet is a form of publication that
reflects not only your own work but that of Marshall University. Our
goal is that every course offered on Marshall University Online meet
the highest professional publishing standards of each faculty
member's discipline. In closing, please be sure that your course
materials are professional in appearance and error-free.
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