Online learning design for dummies: professional development strategies for beginning online designers

Abstract

Abstract: Much of the conventional development of Web-based learning environments stems from design strategies that are based on providing delivery of the course content. Contemporary courseware delivery systems encourage teachers to see the design of online learning as settings as a process of electronic delivery of content and information. As a consequence Web-based courses have tended to display limited evidence of an underpinning learning design and varying degrees of use of the opportunities and affordances of the new technologies. This paper provides an overview of instructional design principles that can guide beginning designers in the creation of Web-based learning materials that support learner engagement and knowledge construction. The paper suggests strategies for professional development activities that can help beginning designers to reconsider their pedagogy and to understand the processes required to design effective settings for online learning.