Plan
An effective online course starts with intentional planning. Start early, with enough time to make key design decisions informed by your course context and your students. Well before the semester, ask yourself what you want students to remember, value, and be able to do years after they complete your course. Describe this destination first to design a learning pathway that is coherent and actively engages students in your course community.
Start With The End
Focus on what matters most
Well-crafted learning objectives clarify intended outcomes for students and set the direction for your entire course. What ways of thinking and core skills should students demonstrate as they enter your discipline or profession? What evidence will you need to determine their level of success? Every journey starts somewhere, the learning objectives you draft can, and often do, evolve as you iteratively refine your designs.
Why this matters
Align assessments with your meaningful learning objectives to increase course clarity and connect student learning with real-world application.
How it helps
Avoid two common missteps: overstuffing your online course with too much content and the student perception of busy work in your course. Prioritize content and activities that directly guide them toward your learning objectives.
Learning objectives help shape the structure of your modules by ensuring that course materials, supporting learning activities, and culminating assessments advance student achievement.
Take the Next Step
What do you want your students to know, value, and do years after taking your course? What distinguishes your students from those that haven’t taken your course?
Our PLAN Field Guide will help you make key decisions in your online course planning. LINK TO FIELD GUIDE
Where can I learn more?
Browse our Online Course Essentials for planning your course using the Backward Design Process, Bloom’s Taxonomy, and Quality Matters Course Design Rubric (Standard 2).