NDSU College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources -- Distance/Continuing Education

Suggestions for Instructors Developing
a Course for Distance Delivery

Plan to start slow and build your distance-delivered course over time. You may have to teach the course several times before you feel the class is “getting close to what you want it to be.” Also, be sure to call on others to assist you on developing your course.

Preparing the Course
Interacting With Students
Administering the Course
Additional Information

[ Back to Distance Ed Home Page ]

Preparing the Course

Develop an effective syllabus. It should describe the course so students are not surprised during the semester. Hint: Think of the syllabus as an understanding with the students that clearly sets forth activities and expectations.

Visit Academic Affairs for the NDSU minimum requirements for a syllabus. Instructors for CAFSNR courses should explain the Honor System briefly in the syllabus.
Be certain to clarify instructor and student expectations in the syllabus; click here for an example.
Be certain to clarify what technology (e.g., hardware, software and connectivity) the students need to take the course.
Consider devising an activity to assure students understand the syllabus.

Establish a schedule for the course. This can help keep the instructor’s responsibilities manageable and it should help motivate the students to complete their work. Even faculty admit that if they do not have a deadline, they may not complete online professional development training in a timely manner. A schedule is important! The schedule could follow the usual 15-week semester, or it could be shorter or longer, depending on the course, audience and instructor. The most important point, though, is to establish deadlines for completing assignments, activities and the overall course.

The Office of the Registrar is interested in establishing several schedules for each semester to accommodate practices such as add dates, drop dates and other such registration deadlines. Check with the Office of the Registrar or the Office of Distance and Continuing Education for current information about schedules that these administrative units support.

Use the technology (e.g., Web site, Blackboard, video conferencing, CD, video bytes, audio bytes) that makes sense for your course material and students. Additional considerations when selecting technology are you - the instructor - and the technical support available to you. Every instructor will not use the same technologies or techniques; every course will not require the same technology.

Laboratory exercises pose a special challenge and often require extensive planning for a distance-delivered course.
Be ready to address the range of “technology” problems students may encounter. These problems often include slow Internet connections, not having the necessary hardware (e.g., CD drive), not having the necessary software, not being allowed by the program to access course materials, student not having much computer experience, etc. Each problem requires a different solution, so an important first step when a student with a technology problem contacts you is having a way to identify the real cause of the difficulty.

Distributing tangible course materials can be a challenge. Provide information on how students can acquire the text, e.g., order from the campus bookstore, purchase online, etc. Consider what materials you are willing and able to provide via a Web site or on a CD. A CD helps overcome the hurdle of a slow Internet connection for students; a Web site is updated easily throughout the semester and it’s an inexpensive way to distribute materials.

Developing educational materials takes time. Some instructors indicate “much more time than an on-campus course;” others state that developing an online course does not take much more time and effort than an excellent campus course. The bottom line: The amount of time developing a distance-delivered course will take depends on the current status of your course materials. Alternatives for course materials include relying on published materials (but beware of copyright law); developing your own; or using a combination of printed, Web, audio and video materials.

We would encourage instructors to edit recordings of live classroom lectures extensively before distributing them to distance students. Although effective for a “live” audience, these lectures may not be effective for a distance-delivered class. Also remember - students may have slow Internet connections. Consider short video or audio clips of key points rather than full lectures. Even these short clips can be troublesome with a slow connection.
See Copyright Fair Use for Educators, NDSU General Counsel
See Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act.
Additional information about copyright law:
Copyright Issues, The University of Texas System, Office of General Council
Copyright Infromation, The University of Texas System, Office of General Council
Copyright and Fair Use, Stanford University Librairies
Copyright, United States Copyright Office
Copyright Law, United States Copyright Office

[ TOP ]

Interacting With Students

Consider how you will engage students to interact with you and one another. Examples include “chat rooms” or threaded discussions, an occasional meeting at a common site, an occasional video conference or conference phone call. Use assignments, short papers and other traditional educational tools to engage students.

Consider how much time responding to numerous e-mails and assignments will take in designing how you will engage the students.
Consider visiting the students at their location early in the course; e.g., if several students are attending at a video conferencing site or learning center, consider traveling to and teaching from that site. This is an opportunity for you to meet them, for them to become acquainted with you, and for you to demonstrate your interest in their success.
Consider an activity that will bring the students in the region to the NDSU campus for several days; e.g., a Friday afternoon and Saturday, or a week-long lab experience. This is an opportunity for them to "connect" to NDSU, our people, and our resources. One or two campus activities coordinated among several courses may be especially appropriate for students pursuing a program of study. Be careful though to not disadvantage students who cannot attend a campus activity due to distance.

Consider how you will determine whether the student is learning the subject matter. Again, you can use traditional educational techniques - with some modification. Having students e-mail an outline to the instructor, who then e-mails it to the other students, followed by a conference phone call/discussion, could substitute for a short student presentation. Recognize that such an activity not only reinforces the students’ understanding of the subject matter, it also allows them to practice lifelong skills, such as communicating “over the miles.”

How will you assess student learning (to the extent this differs from the previous point)?

See Teaching Goals Inventory by Center for Teaching at the University of Iowa.

Consider the procedures you will use to gather student feedback about the course. You’ll likely implement this process at the end of the course, but you also can use it throughout the course. Consider available “tools” such as online course evaluations.

[ TOP ]

Administering the Course

Rely on NDSU Distance and Continuing Education for course promotion and administration.

If the course will be taught on campus and via distance delivery at the same time, consider offering two sections - one for each audience. This can ease administration; it also will be helpful if the student activities will be different for on-campus students and distance students. However, offering additional sections may require more time from the instructor.
Off-campus NDSU employees may want to register for the section the NDSU registrar administers so employees can use their “tuition waiver.” This appears to be a reasonable strategy at this time, but it may require special attention.
Be sure to have basic information about the course available in printed or electronic format so you can respond quickly when interested people contact you. Helpful information includes a description of the class, when the course will meet (if at all), when the course will begin and how to enroll (even how to be admitted to NDSU if the person has not attended NDSU in the past).
A news release via NDSU Agriculture Communication appears to be a good strategy to get additional exposure for the course. Be ready, however, to respond to a range of inquiries because a variety of individuals ranging from high school students to senior citizens see these releases.
Consider “capping” enrollment for the distance-delivered course at a reasonable number. Of course, this will differ for every course and instructor.

Offering the course via other institutions, such as another NDUS institution, can be effective but also can raise additional administrative issues that need to be resolved as soon as possible.

[ TOP ]