eCOURSE DEVELOPMENT
This is a crucial component of preparing an eCourse for one’s students. After deciding on the content to be developed – learning materials (subject matter), learning activities and assessment activities – where does one acquire them? This is the main question that arises when engaged in the development stage of one’s course. Acquiring the aforementioned course content can occur through one of, or varying combinations of, the following “content acquisition” options:
- Use of Open Educational Resources (OERs)
- eText Books from Publishers
- Library Resources
- Bespoke Educational Resources developed by UTT Instructors
eCourse Development Time-Frames
Development time-frames and recommended guidelines among varying educational institutions reveal a minimum development period averaging between 12-14 weeks per course with others recommending 6 months per course and lastly, some institutions recommending a development period upwards of 12 months per course.
Ultimately, the research indicates that the time it takes to develop the materials, activities, and resources of an eCourse would vary based upon:
- the content acquisition path that is selected;
- the amount of development required;
- the quality assurance & control measures applied to development;
- the skill & competence of the persons involved in development and;
- institutional support (e.g. faculty accommodations, policy, guidelines, frameworks, financial commitments).
Nonetheless, barring other factors, sourcing OERs to develop content for an eCourse can result in the lowest development time-frame compared to the other methods to develop/acquire content.
eCourse Development Support
eCourse development support provided by the Instructional Designer includes:
- Tutorials showcasing UTT’s Learning Technologies re developing resources for eCourses e.g. multimedia teaching resources, screencast lecture videos.
- Quick Tips & Best Practice Recommendations re development of course resources.
- A list of OER Sources.