WINTER 2012 - National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and ...

Creating Quality Online Course Design
difficult exercise in constructing course activities. The challenge is in accurately
identifying the connection between specific materials and instruction and the
student actions that manifest learning of stated objectives.
Although making the connection between instructive materials and student
actions is inherently an informal exercise in thinking about and creating
coursework, efforts to quantify those associations have led to several alterations
in required course activities. For instance, the traditional classroom setting might
call for a “participate grade” that attempts to capture the informal discussion and
observed group dynamics within class exercises. The online environment offers
blogs and wikis, which allow for this type of informal discussion to take place.
Case study analysis, simulations, and student presentations augment the standard
discussion board as strategies to achieve learning objectives. Many instructors
have included assessments that build on the interactive component of Bb, using
Wimba classrooms and Voice Boards (audio-based threaded discussions) to assess
critical thinking skills, presentation skills, and public speaking performance.
Each of these tools allows for greater planning and definitive demonstration of
the relationship between course objectives and manifested learning.
Learner Interaction and Activities
Research suggests that interaction in the online environment should include
student-to-student, student-to-faculty, and student-to-content interplay (Moore,
1989). In the MPA Program, activities have been formulated to promote these
exchanges. The syllabus template and Bb course shell contain a required plan
for interacting and communicating with students and articulating how students
are expected to interact with the instructor. For instance, at the beginning of
the course, discussion boards are introduced with two forums: an “Ask the
Instructor” forum where students can, throughout the term, post questions
pertaining to the course and suitable for general consumption, and a “Student
Introduction” area in which all participants provide information that moves
them beyond simply an identity defined by an e-mail address. It was discovered
that students were more willing to participate and open in their introductions
when instructors posted a photo and their own personal biography first. The
degree of formality, depth of information disclosed, and style of the profile
created by the instructor projects important information to the students as to
how interactions are expected to be held. Similar to what happens in a brickand-mortar
classroom, the online “community” calls for individual effort to
establish an identity and be an active participant; however, online instructors
like to say, “You can’t hide in the back of the room when online.” Concerted
effort to ascertain how much personal information should be provided through a
keyboard and engagement with the instructor and class members throughout the
day and week are challenges unique to the creation and cultivation of a “class”
without time or space limitations.
Journal of Public Affairs Education 215