The first step in developing an instructional strategy is to identify a teaching sequence and manageable groupings of content (Dick, Carey, & Carey. 2005). One way to sequence and group content in your online course is to create modules. A module is a unit or section of material within your course that organizes and presents content and outlines the learning activities and assessments for students over a certain period of time. Modules may be one week in length or a longer time period (e.g., units, chapters) and may be centered around a theme or a specific topic.
Modules typically include objectives, an introduction, content (e.g., text, images, web links, videos), activities, graded assignments, and assessments. Creating consistent modules throughout the course will improve the design of your online course by making it well-organized, easy to navigate, and provide structure for your students (Rubric for Online Instruction, 2009).
Link to example artifact(s)
- [Sample module from UCF’s Pavel Zemliansky] Each learning module in his course is four weeks in length.
- [Sample module from UCF’s Susan Wegmann] She organizes course modules as weekly Lessons.
Link to scholarly reference(s)
Dick, W., Carey, L., & Carey J. (2005). The systematic design of instruction. 6th Ed. New York, NY: Pearson.
Rubric for Online Instruction (2009). California State University, Chico. https://www.csuchico.edu/eoi/
Citation
Sugar, A. (2015). Create modules to organize content. In B. Chen & K. Thompson (Eds.), Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository. Orlando, FL: University of Central Florida Center for Distributed Learning. https://topr.online.ucf.edu/modules/.