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The Need

Module 1 "There's Got to be a Better Way"

Let's take just a moment to look at how these tools have changed the way we design courses at Utah State University.

As It Was... (The Problem)

The process of creating an online course at USU used to look something like this:

  1. Instructional Designer meets with instructor and they
    1. Talk about goals for the course
    2. Look at example courses
    3. They discuss elements to include
  2. Instructional Designer spends the next few days setting up the course including:
    1. Copying and pasting code from previous courses
    2. Stripping out old content (images, banners and other styled elements)
    3. Begin entering new content (hoping they don't break any of the code)
    4. Adding custom content (i.e. an Accordion Widget)
      1. If they remember using it before they:
        1. Hunt down a course that used that content
        2. Reverse engineering the code
        3. Figuring out why the new one doesn't work
        4. Asking for help
      2. If they can't find it they:
        1. Take the time to research and figure it out
        2. Or call in some favors with someone who knows how to create it
    5. Custom Graphics (i.e. Front Page Banner)
      1. Figure out what size of image they need
      2. Find an image
        1. Use Photoshop to crop it (for many this isn't very easy)
        2. Send it to a Graphic Designer
    6. Create and Customize other items
      1. Create the required pages and copy and paste code into each new page
      2. Create modules, assignments, discussion boards and quizzes one at a for the instructor to customize
  3. Hand the new course shell over to the instructor

This process could take several days to complete.

As It Is Becoming... (the Solution)

Here is what the process of developing an online course is starting to become

  1. Instructional Designer meets with instructor and they
    1. Talk about goals for the course
    2. Look at example courses
    3. Discuss elements to include
  2. While still sitting with the instructor they
    1. Launch the Template Wizard
    2. Use the Content Tools to create a Template Page
      1. Choose from a variety of themes
      2. Add boilerplate content or custom sections
      3. Quickly add custom elements (Accordion Widgets, Tabbed Panels, Buttons, Modal Dialogs, Progress Bars and many more)
    3. Return to the USU Template Wizard
      1. Determine number of modules to create
      2. Name each module
      3. Customize the number of assignments, discussions or quizzes to include in each module
      4. Click a button and the modules, wiki-pages, assignments, discussions and quizzes are automatically generated
    4. Customize the Course Front-Page
      1. Choose a theme
      2. Launch the USU Template Wizard to upload, crop and resize a banner image.
      3. Add boilerplate content
  3. Instructional Designer sends the instructor off with:
    1. A course shell to begin filling with content
    2. Tools to help create and update their syllabus

The process that could take several days can now be accomplished in 90 minutes or less!

Click "Next" to find out more.