Sunday, November 1, 2015

Reflection on Progress of Online Canvas Course

The development of my online class is moving along according to schedule. Although we are nearing the end of the semester, there is still quite a bit of detail to complete. For example, I only have one module left to construct. It is the final module which includes the presentations of the comprehensive digital portfolios. Then, I need to go back through the entire course and fine tune the details.

I enjoy the creativity of building the class; however, it is the detail involved that I find rather tedious and tiresome. But from experience, this is one of the key factors that I find online instructional designers tend to overlook. It is very frustrating as a student, when materials in the online class contradict each other or are too vague for the student to understand the assignment.  Therefore, I want to be sure that the syllabus, the assignment due dates, and instructions all align with the course activities and modules. And, you don’t want the course instructor modifying course content while teaching the course, as trying to create course content and meet the student needs at the same time would be overwhelming and effect the success of the course (Caplan & Graham, 2004).

Time has been the biggest challenge in creating this course. If I had more time, I could develop most of the instructional videos myself. However, in this case, I had to pick and choose which ones I needed to customize and create myself. Although, in some instances, the student is charged with researching and finding customized videos and information. In addition, Canvas is somewhat limited when it comes to formatting the material. I spent too much time trying to create a professional looking line break between activities in each module. I wanted to break the activities into chunks of information, so the material would not look so overwhelming to the participant. However, it still isn’t perfect and views differently depending on the device being used to view the course.

Currently, I am on schedule to meet the timeline for completion. However, I am always thinking of things that would enhance the course, but usually end up abandoning many of the ideas due to time constraints and the scope of the assignment. The course is set up so that each module should be completed within a week’s timeframe. So, I will not be able to implement the course during this timeframe; however, I will be using this course with our administrators next summer. And I have been asked to conduct training for another school district based on the information and materials in the course. So, the evaluation will be conducted after this semester.

Reference

Caplan, D., & Graham, R. (2004). The development of online courses. Theory and practice of online learning, 175.

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