WebCT Site

Online Course Design I

Module 1

Module 2

Online Course Design II

Module 3

Module 4

Module 2:Planning Your Course

Outcome: Create a site plan for your course

Main Assignment:

• Review the basic elements of an online course, and relate these elements to our model site plan.
• Name the elements of your course Web site.
• Using the site plan template as a guide, create a pattern of organization for your site.
• Draw your site plan.

Steps to complete the assignment:

• Review the basic elements of an online course.
• site plan
• homepage or welcome page
• page template with site navigation system
• syllabus
• course content pages developed as projects or modules
• interactive elements
• assessment strategies
• hyper links to online resources
• course management tools
• Are there other resources you plan to use? For example, are you requiring students to purchase a print textbook? If so, does the publisher of this text offer online support?  Do you plan to use a publisher's e-pack?  To learn more about e-packs, visit the WebCT page on course content resources at <http://www.webct.com/content>.
• Relate these elements to our model site plan.

Study example course sites we visited in Module 1 and analyze their site plans.
• Netscape site: English 1121 College Writing and Critical Reading/Elizabeth Nist
• Adobe Pagemill: ARCC Journalism/Mark Plenke <http://www.arcc.mnscu.edu/~plenkema/ARCC/salmagundi/jour1109.html>
• FrontPage site: English 1104 Technical Writing/Catherine Bean

"Explorations in Biology"/Jenny Edgerton <http://www.ar.cc.mn.us/edgerton>.
• WebCT site: Engl 1121/Elizabeth Nist.
To log in as a guest student:
USER ID: examplestudent
PASSWORD: student123
(Please use no CAPS and no spaces when you log in.)
• Examples:
• Site plans may be drawn as organization charts: The Writers' PLACE Rhetoric
• Site plans may be created as outlines: The Writers' PLACE Commons
• Site plan for this workshop, Online Course Design I.

Sometimes it's easier to plan a web site by creating the pieces first and then physically building the site from those pieces. When I teach this workshop on-site, I give participants the following materials:

• A smooth plastic surface, like an overhead transparency or the vinyl cover of a 3-ring notebook.  For contrast, place a dark sheet of paper under the transparency or use a dark-colored notebook cover.
• Removable multi-purpose (white) labels.
You may also use index cards spread out on your desk or pinned to a bulletin board.

Name the elements of your course.
Welcome page and/or homepage
Syllabus
Content outline
Content modules (individual lesson plans)--create a separate label or card for each module
Study guides, handouts
Publisher's textbook resources
Assessment tools
Communication tools
Other instructional strategies you want to incorporate in your course Web site.
Create a label or index card for each element.
Using our model site plan as a guide, create a pattern of organization. Move the labels around until the organization makes sense. If there are gaps, add additional elements. If there is duplication, delete. Play with the pieces until the organization seems right.

One easy way to do this is to move your labels to a piece of stiff paper where they will stay in place.

You may also choose to make a draft of your site by using the organization chart in PowerPoint or making an outline as a Word.doc or html file.

You may also plan your site using an outline rather than a map or chart.

The design of a Web site may be:

• linear
• hierarchical
• cyclical
• interlinked web
• combination site

6. Collaboration:
 

CELE 1001 workshop activity: Share your plan with your group and your workshop leader.  Ask for feedback.

7. Revise your plan.

While your plan may seem "fixed" at this point, don't be surprised to discover you want to make changes as you build your site. This is a lot like building a house. What looks good in a blueprint does not always look the same as you build. On top of that, you learn as you go, so you will see new possibilities later on that do not occur to you now.

Additional Readings

"A Beginner's Guide to HTML."  WebCT.com Library. 3 June 2001.  <http://www.webct.com/service/ViewContent?contentID=356250&communityID=-1&categoryID=-1&sIndex=0>.