Online Course Essentials | Orientation
Modules are used to organize and chunk course content; there is a logical and consistent organization and layout that continues throughout the course.
Modules provide structure for online courses. They guide students sequentially through course content, learning activities, and assessments. Maintain a consistent module structure throughout the course to reduce confusion so students can focus on concepts.
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Learn More
Modules
Elements
Overview
Ensure students understand how learning objectives, assessments, and learning activities are intentionally aligned to help students succeed.
Lesson
Use this page to organize the week’s recorded lectures, readings, and course links. A consistent weekly format helps students proceed step-by-step through your guided instruction.
Learning Activities and Assessments
Engage students with graded or ungraded activities and assessments, sequenced to gradually increase in rigor, guiding students toward increasing ability to demonstrate proficiency of learning objectives.
Research
“Clear course structure and teaching clarity motivates students, improves their persistence, raises their performance and grades, and supports first-generation and low-SES students” (Blaich, et al., 2016).
Research shows that students need to be able to understand and navigate a course site before they can process course concepts, and how they interact with that organization affects the meanings they eventually develop from course content (Swan, 2003).
Related Reading
Related Reading
Online Course Model
Developed and shared by IOWA instructors, online course models demonstrate different ways to integrate effective instructional practices within an online course. Hear directly from an instructor that partnered with DOE to share their customization of the DOE ICON template.
Online Course Sample Site
See an intuitive module organization that leads students through a well-planned learning sequence.