8.3. Supporting Course Development and Delivery
This section covers the issue of how a planned and integrated approach to the development and delivery of e-learning experiences can be put in place in such a way that the policies and procedures that apply and the roles of all staff involved are both coherent and understood in the context of the use of an MLE.
8.3.1. Supporting Course Development
This section covers the issue of how the institution supports the development of e-learning courses, and how the various services and support staff involved in the operation of an MLE might be involved. In particular it addresses the questions:
How do you plan and support the development of new courses in terms of:
Analysis and Planning?
Design?
Development?
What parts of the institution are/should be involved in this process?
How does supporting this change roles?
e-learning presents a challenge to the roles and responsibilities of academics and support professionals. Apart from the expected quality processes most traditional course development is done in an ill-formed and often quite ad-hoc way. Whilst some involvement of support professionals will inevitably take place (e.g. library resources, IT requirements), this is very rarely integrated in any real way into the course design/development process.
e-learning, by its very nature, demands considerably more planning. However, there is little evidence that pedagogy is much considered in this process, with far too many staff seeking to model traditional practice onto e-delivery. Support, at all levels, is often either overlooked or not effectively used. Indeed, it is very often the case that developers have not thought through the reason why they are going to use e-learning in the first place. (Sometimes the reason for doing it is solely that funding exists!).
Overall the essential amateurism of much course design and development is thrown into sharp relief by e-learning and the use of MLEs (especially their VLE component). The resources for this sub-section include a lengthy discussion of the following questions:
What approaches to development suits your situation best?
How will analysis and planning be carried out?
Is the development feasible?
Who are your potential learners?
How will pedagogic approaches be chosen?
How will mode of delivery be selected?
How will you ensure integration?
How will you ensure that all those involved in a development own the development?
What's needed in an outline plan?
How will you ensure the right match of learners, learning outcomes, pedagogy, and technology to create a course design?
What course design process is appropriate?
How will you structure the course?
How will you manage and support development and implementation of the product?
How will you ensure you satisfy quality requirements?
What preparation is needed for delivery?
Staff Development?
Ensuring support infrastructure and service levels are in place?
Ensuring organisational procedures such as enrolment are planned for?
Ensuring assessment procedures are planned for?
Designing and implementing marketing?
8.3.2. Supporting Course Delivery
This section covers the issue of how the institution supports the delivery of e-learning courses, and how the various services and support staff involved in the operation of an MLE might be involved. In particular it addresses the questions:
What quality assurance processes do you carry out prior to delivery?
How do you integrate the use of MLEs into the support of learning?
How is the use of MLEs integrated into assessment?
What administrative and technical support processes support delivery?
How is access to courses beyond delivery dealt with?
(The adminstrative issues discussed in the next section are also relevant to these points.)
A final reality check - Before starting any e-learning course a final check is a good idea:
Is the course ready and fit for learners to start?
What checks are in place to ensure quality at the time of delivery?
Are you ready to enrol for this course?
Support - is it all in place?
Deliverers - are they in place?
8.3.3. Delivering a Course
Issues to consider include
Enrolment of students
Inducting Students
Ensuring access.
Dealing with latecomers and drop-outs
Managing collaborative and group working
Setting up and initiating activities
Providing feedback
8.3.4. Assessment
The issues here were introduced in the section on Key Roles and solutions should have been designed in, but some additional points are worth considering, particularly in the context of group and collaborative work:
Peer Assessment
Monitoring
Formative Assessment
Authorship/Plagiarism
Proof of Submission
Overall, it is important to ask the question 'Does our assessment practice within our MLE conform to institutional policy as laid down?'
8.3.5. Supporting delivery
Many of the issues of support have already been addressed. One of the most fundamental questions here is: 'Is everyone one involved in support clear about who supports what, and do they really own those aspects of support?'
8.3.6. Access beyond delivery
Access to learner activities and outputs beyond delivery is needed for quality, monitoring, resit, revision, and 'taking your learning away' (lifelong learning).
Follow this link for key resources for this section (these open in a new window)
Follow this link for more resources for this section (these open in a new window)
