Areas for improvement in my online course

    Greetings to my fellow teachers! Once again I am writing about the development of my online course. However, this time, the post that I am writing is going to be the last one under the label of online course design. It has been a wonderful experience to design the course "Mastering Everyday English Writing" which forced me to consider how to make opportunities for learning that are both useful and engaging. Even though the course provides a range of resources and exercises to assist students, considering how it was implemented has shown where it could be improved to increase its overall effectiveness and inclusivity.

    Lesson alignment with the overall objectives of the course is one of the factors I have taken into account. Lesson 5 was originally split into two separate topics, but it was reduced into a single final writing assignment. This modification made the module simpler, but it also showed how crucial it is to make sure that every task is directly related to the main objective of the course. Formative assessments also could be incorporate into the updated version of the course, successfully linking lessons 1-4 to the final project, strengthening the sense of continuity and advancement (Al-Freih, 2021).

    Another aspect of the course that may be improved is collaboration. There is room for more interactive, group projects even if platforms like Padlet and Kialo give students the chance to brainstorm and develop ideas together. For instance, in Lesson 4.1, students may collaborate on writing a short story, and in Lesson 4.2, they could edit another person's personal narratives (Sun and Rueda, 2012). 

    Furthermore, any successful online course must be accessible, and I understand that this particular course needs to be made more inclusive for learners with different needs. Content would be more accessible to students with visual impairments if audio descriptions were added to videos in tools like Edpuzzle or Twee. Furthermore, offering simplified instructions or bilingual glossaries could help students with different skill levels overcome the difficulties and guarantee that everyone participates completely in the course.

    The possibility of technology fatigue, which can result from using several digital tools, is another factor to consider. While the course integrates lots of digital tools in tasks, offering diversity, some students may find it too much to handle. Combining activities into fewer platforms could simplify the technology ecosystem, improve course usability, and lessen students' cognitive load (Zhao et al., 2019).

    Therefore, in the process of course design, the crucial step is to think back on these areas that need improvement. I think that every change presents a chance to better serve students' needs. I'm convinced that this course may develop into an even more successful and inclusive experience for students if I strengthen alignment, boost teamwork and collaboration, increase accessibility, develop feedback systems and address technology fatigue.

References

Al-Freih, M. (2021) ‘The impact of faculty experience with emergency remote teaching: An interpretive phenomenological study’, IAFOR Journal of Education, 9(2), pp. 7–23.

Sun, J.C.Y. and Rueda, R. (2012) ‘Situational interest, computer self-efficacy and self-regulation: Their impact on student engagement in distance education’, British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(2), pp. 191–204.

Zhao, Y., Lei, J., Yan, B., Lai, C. and Tan, H. S. (2019) ‘What makes the difference? A practical analysis of research on the effectiveness of distance education’, Teachers College Record, 121(3), pp. 1–44.