Pedagogical Decision Making: Main Thread

This week, you learned about the importance of design and instructional decisions in creating an effective online course. Imagine you are part of a committee charged with developing a new set of guidelines or standards for assuring the quality of online courses delivered through your institution. Reflect on what you learned from the Learning Resources this week and your own personal experiences with best practices for instruction, design/delivery, and materials/technology in the online environment.

Locate your group/committee. Working collaboratively with your committee, develop a list of 8-10 standards for design, instruction, and materials that make for a high-quality online course. Be sure your standards address, at the very least, the following concepts:

Timely interaction

Managing diverse learning preferences

Expectations for instructors regarding facilitation of communication

Sustaining participation

Each member of the committee is expected to contribute at least two suggestions for standards. Your group should also discuss the implications of each standard and develop a rationale for adopting the standards. The group should identify one spokesperson to compile and post the collective list of standards, along with the rationale, to the main Discussion thread.

Between Monday and Thursday of this week, post at least two suggestions for standards to your assigned committee's thread. Discuss with your committee the implications for each standard and a rationale for each decision.