Open AccessAsynchronous Online Course Designs: Articulating Theory, Best Practices, and Techniques for Everyday Doctoral Education
Author(s) -
Michael M. Grant
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
impacting education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2472-5889
DOI - 10.5195/ie.2021.191
Subject(s) - asynchronous communication , distance education , online course , de facto , online learning , online discussion , course (navigation) , instructional design , best practice , massive open online course , quality (philosophy) , medical education , computer science , psychology , pedagogy , mathematics education , engineering , world wide web , political science , medicine , computer network , philosophy , epistemology , law , aerospace engineering
Early online course materials were text-based and relied heavily on discussion forums as the de facto tool for interactions. Faculty members today, however, have many other choices for course design and course materials. There is not consensus for online course design guidelines or principles, though. Choices in course design by faculty members directly impact the quality of instruction and student learning experience. This article shares some of our theoretical and practical decisions faculty members at the University of South Carolina employ for online course design. Our experiences and decision-making may be useful for other members of the Online Ed.D. CPED Improvement Group (Online Ed.D. CIG), as well as other programs who may be experiencing emergency remote teaching as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, making an evolutionary transition to online or blended education, or considering a future transition to a fully online program. Links to the strategies and tools mentioned throughout this essay are collated in a list at the end.