Course Content

Your course content is where you include the materials to support the learning experience. The content builds from your syllabus ensuring alignment with the learning objective. You may start by asking yourself how you want to present the information so it is most meaningful to the learners. Some strategies for organization and presentation support learning and reducing cognitive load. Content can be presented in many ways including lectures (live or recorded), readings, videos, guest speakers, links to outside sources, podcasts, interactive activities, and many other ways. Presentation of content in various ways supports Universal Design for Learning. Consideration must be given to the accessibility of the content and copyright (UMA Libraries resources on copyright). 

Considerations

When designing online courses several important aspects should be considered to ensure effective content delivery (Mintz, 2020 and Pappas, 2015).

Clear Learning Objectives: Clearly define the learning outcomes and objectives of the course. This helps students understand what they will gain from the course and provides a roadmap for content delivery. 

Structured Course Materials: Organize course materials in a logical and consistent way such as modules or units, to facilitate student learning. Provide resources like readings, videos, interactive multimedia, and quizzes to enhance engagement and understanding. Include descriptions of each module to prepare learners for the content included. 

Chunking: Organizing content by chunking is a great way to make the content more manageable and reduce cognitive overload. Chunking is breaking down larger content or materials into smaller learning opportunities - chunks. For example, a one hour video lecture can be broken down to several shorter videos based on topics. This helps with attention span and with organization. Learners can look up specific topics if they need to revisit them. 

Engaging Multimedia: Incorporate multimedia elements like videos, animations, infographics, and interactive simulations to make the content more engaging for students. These multimedia resources can enhance comprehension and retention of the material. Be sure the multimedia relates and support the topic of the content.

Interactive Learning Activities: Include interactive activities that encourage student engagement and promote active learning. These can include discussions, group projects, case studies, simulations, and virtual labs, which allow students to apply their knowledge in practical scenarios. Relevant learning experiences that relate to learners need to know are more authentic and meaningful due to the ability to apply to the "real world".

Assessments and Feedback: Implement a variety of assessments, including quizzes, assignments, and exams, to gauge student understanding and progress. Provide timely feedback on their performance to guide their learning and address any misconceptions or gaps in knowledge. 

Clear Navigation and User Experience: Design a user-friendly course and ensure easy navigation within the Brightspace. Use consistent layouts and naming protocol to support the user experience and facilitate seamless access to course content. Use the tools in Brightspace to link the learners directly to the assessments in the content area rather than requiring them to click an additional tab to access.

Accessibility: Ensure that the course content is accessible to all students. Ally is built into Brightspace and can help support accessibility. All documents loaded to Brightspace must be formatted for accessibility. For additional information and resources see the Accessibility tab.