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Engineering an online course: applying the ‘secrets’ of computer programming to course development
Author(s) -
Ellis Timothy J.,
Hafner William
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
british journal of educational technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.79
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-8535
pISSN - 0007-1013
DOI - 10.1046/j.0007-1013.2003.00356.x
Subject(s) - computer science , online course , course (navigation) , process (computing) , field (mathematics) , software development , craft , software , software engineering , product (mathematics) , software development process , engineering management , multimedia , world wide web , engineering , mathematics education , psychology , mathematics , geometry , archaeology , pure mathematics , history , programming language , aerospace engineering , operating system
Colleges and universities are increasingly migrating towards utilising the World Wide Web to convey at least part of, and in many cases, their entire curricular offering. Despite this trend there is little support for the professors responsible for translating courses refined over a career in the classroom for delivery via the Web. Teachers who are experts in their subject area and masters of their craft when in a classroom find themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to relearn how to teach in a new environment with little or no support. Development of an online course is, in many significant aspects, analogous to developing a computer product. The procedures and tools utilised in the software engineering field to manage computer software development, therefore, offer promise for developing online courses. This paper explores the potential of one process developed for the software engineering field—the System Development Lifecycle (SDL)—as a tool to effectively design and develop online college courses.