Online courses development should be driven by the following questions, according to NCVPS administration (and Shu wholeheartedly agrees!):

1. How much do they know/what if they know it already?
   This question individualizes instruction -higher order thinking assignments for students who understand the basics, and basic skills assignments for students who don’t have the basics already -this kind of individualization is already possible!
2. How will they learn it?
   This question gets course developers thinking about different learning styles and the most effective way to deliver content.  If an online course resembles a copied textbook, then we need to re-evaluate the effectiveness of that course.
3. What if they didn’t learn it?
   This question makes developers consider what kind of extra learning opportunities we can provide within courses.  Can an alternative assessment be provided if the student doesn’t get it the first time?  What other ways can we deliver the instruction and re-loop confused student through the learning process?
4. How do we know if they learned it or are learning it?
   This question clearly refers to effective formative and summative assessment.  We have to know if they’re getting it during the lesson, and then we have to be able to show evidence that they got it after the lesson.
   
5. Last, and most important, What do they need to know?
   Course developers should be using the Standard Course of Study linked to 21st century learning guides to create smooth, thematic units.

Additional points for course development -things Shu’s learned in the trenches:

• Courses should never be organized by date -instead, they should be organized by ‘days of class.’  On day 1, xyz gets done… This way the course schedule isn’t reinvented every semester unnecessarily.
• Units should be a consistent number of days -10 days is a great length for a unit.
• What happens inside a unit should be consistent.  In other words, in an English class, each unit should have a vocab, grammar, writing, discussion, reading, etc. activity.  They should all be relevant to the theme, and they should be consistent throughout the course.  This leads to greater student comfort with what might be a new experience.
• Web 2.0 should be used for learning.  Animotos are a nice aesthetic touch, but don’t get carried away with the aesthetics.  Use technology for learning!  www.shu-ncrew.com is full of resources on how to bring learning to life in an online course.  It’s what we do.
• The first days of class should define processes and make sure students have basic skills -screenshots, attaching files, how to navigate the class, how to participate in discussions, expectations for discussion posts, how to use rubrics, common tasks, etc.  Thanks Harry Wong -your ideas hold merit in online education too!
• The fewer buttons on the main page, the better.  Some classes have a button for every unit on the main page.  This kind of visual noise is intimidating and confusing for students.  The only buttons on the main page kids really need are announcements, teacher contact info, a deadline calendar (use google’s calendar app!), a check grades button, and a link to the course’s work.  That’s it.  Keep it simple.  Maybe consider adding a button that links to a wimba classroom that the teacher will run occasionally.
• Include Polls from polldaddy (my favorite) in every unit.  Heck, include one after every assignment.  Then, when it’s time to revise the course, you’ll have data from your customers on what needs to be done for each assignment.  They’ll surprise you!