Segmenting Content
In an online course, we recommend segmenting your content into weekly modules. The weekly introduction page is the starting point for students and provides a high-level overview of a particular week. It often includes the following:
- an introduction or brief description of the week’s content
- learning outcomes for the week
- key terms (optional)
- a list of all required resources
- assignments and activities
- a list of optional resources
- references
Creating Your Weekly Introduction Pages
Before designing and writing the first introduction page for your course, we recommend that you complete your course schedule. Students use this schedule to navigate course content, assignments, and due dates. As an instructor, the course schedule is also a useful course design tool. Include the title of your weekly topics, the assignment titles (indicating whether it is a discussion, quiz, project, etc.), and the due dates.
If possible, provide assignment instructions at the beginning of the term as this is very helpful for students’ organization and planning. Content for each week may have to be built as you progress through the course. If any of the deadlines for assignments change, be sure to inform students through LEARN announcements or other class-wide communication.
Once your course schedule is mapped out, you can start working on your first week of content. Write a description for this week, as well as 3-5 learning outcomes. Then consider how many topics (or lessons) you will teach to achieve those outcomes.
Curating Content
When creating your week of online materials, we recommend that you start by curating existing content. This will help you save time and ensures you are not recreating what already exists. You may be surprised at the quality of resources already available. In your review, identify relevant and useful articles, videos, and other resources to cover your learning outcomes. You may also want to keep track of resources that you come across that may be well suited for future weeks. Review the copyright guidelines.
Once you have identified existing resources, consider what material you may need to address the gaps. Also, consider how you will present information. Some learners prefer text over multimedia because it is easy to navigate, they can control the pace, and they can readily find information. If you are creating videos, create short video segments (less than 6 min is recommended) for dynamic content, narratives, or bottlenecks concepts. Students also appreciate if they have the ability to change the pace (i.e., 2x speed). You can look into your own video platform to see if this is an option.
Within LEARN, you can create multimedia pages with text, video, links, embedded PowerPoint presentations, images, etc. You can find more information about creating content and selecting the right tools on the Keep Learning website.
Organizing Content
Now that you have identified existing resources and created your own content, organize your materials to make sure they are easy to navigate. Starting with the introduction page, organize your materials in the order you’d like students to review them. We recommended that you segment the content for your week into topics and provide meaningful titles.
Here’s a sample structure:
Week 9 Introduction: Being Agile
9a. The Phoenix Project
9b. The Agile Development Approach
9c. Scrum and Kanban
9d. Agile in Action
Alternatively, if you would prefer to upload files or create separate links, your content section may have the following files:
1a. Textbook reading (link or PDF): title and page length
1b. Educational video (link): title and length
1c. Instructor notes (Word or PDF): title and page length (and so forth)
For example:
9a. The Phoenix Project (instructor notes: 4 pgs)
9b. Agile Development Approach (instructor notes: 10 pgs)
9c. Scrum and Kanban (5 min video)
9d. Agile in Action (3 min video)
The introduction page template is not fixed and can be adapted to suit your material. Once you decide upon the structure of the introduction page, it should be consistent throughout your course.