"Information is not instruction..."
David Merrill, 1997It is more important than ever in the present Information Age that we develop learners who are able to locate appropriate information, make meaning of it, critique it and share their understandings with others. Online courses, effectively designed, can facilitate this process. The online virtual classroom offers a unique, often demanding, and rewarding experience for today's Net Generation students.
Effective design for online courses relies on both thoughtful interface design and instructional design, which work together.
The interface design must provide ease of navigation, a sense of human interaction, and helpfulness and responsiveness to the needs of learners studying in an information rich, self directed medium. Learners need to feel confident that they know where they are at any one point in the course and that they can easily make contact with others as the need arises.
Exemplary instructional design must provide a rich learning experience in a personalized supportive framework. At the same time, it should promote self discipline and require students to take a more active approach to their learning. Online curriculum should focus on application of knowledge to the real world and foster critical thinking skills with opportunities for an interchange of ideas among students and with the instructor.
Proceed to Lesson 1 by following the link on the navigation sidebar on the left side of the window.
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