Peer Review

Designing an Exemplary Course

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Mar 11, 2018 by Faculty Development

Bookmark

Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This course, “Designing an Exemplary Course” will be led by Blackboard's Exemplary Course Directors and Catalyst Award winning course designers with the assistance of the CourseSites team. The course will provide a framework for participants to use the Exemplary Course Rubric to self-evaluate their course-building work and ask others in the course to provide peer reviews. Peer reviewers will include experienced reviewers who have participated in the Exemplary Course Program.
Type of Material:: Online course in Blackboard
Recommended Uses:: This self-paced course may be taken for earning a badge, self-edification and improvement in teaching online, or for interest. Participants may work individually or in teams within the course.
Technical Requirements:: web browser, internet access and access to Blackboard Course Sites, audio, video, flash, adobe acrobat reader
Identify Major Learning Goals:: Using the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program (ECP) Rubric as a guide, this open course will provide both theoretical concepts and practical tools for instructors to recognize, organize, and build online courses for both blended learners and online learners. The course will provide a framework for participants to use the Exemplary Course Rubric to self-evaluate their course-building work and ask others in the course to provide peer reviews. Peer reviewers will include experienced reviewers who have participated in the Exemplary Course Program. The goal is to empower participants to design courses that reflect best practices for designing, engaging, assessing, and supporting learners in blended and online learning environments. Participants have the opportunity to: Identify the pillars of an exemplary course Integrate the pillars into course development Apply the pillars to course construction Evaluate online course components and strategies through collaborative peer review
Target Student Population:: Educators in K-12, higher education and continuing education environments who teach web-enhanced, blended, or fully online courses
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Basic knowledge of teaching and online course work.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The content quality of this resource is outstanding as it is based on the Blackboard pillars of an exemplary course. This resource presents valid and accurate concepts, models, and skills that are educationally significant for teaching online with technology. It is complete in scope and ready for immediate use. Where appropriate as in the list of Resources, valid and accurate references, bibliographies and other supporting material are provided.
Concerns:: No deficiencies were found in the quality of the material.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: The material is highly effective as it is designed in accordance with the Blackboard pillars of an exemplary course. The course gives a clear articulation of its purpose and goals. The participant will be able to effectively achieve these goals. Compared to other methods of teaching support and training, this resource is just as effective or better. The content level is appropriate for higher education instructors. The resource has a basic visual appeal and prompts the participant to engage further and even earn a badge. It promotes creative use beyond the course itself. It is innovative and original. It is highly interactive and does so effectively by supporting community interaction in the vein of exemplary Blackboard courses. It provides effective introductions, overviews and summaries when applicable. It allows for connections to community through the use of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and blogs. It prompts users to adapt and experiment with ideas in their own disciplines. There is a mechanism for contacting the course contributors of the site for consultation/questions.
Concerns:: No deficiencies were found.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: This resource presents the information clearly and arranged in an orderly fashion. The information is well organized and logically ordered for ease of navigation and understanding. The content level is appropriate for the expertise level of the intended audience. This resource presents information in ways that are familiar to the intended audience and that would be attractive to them. The website is clearly designed with no distracting design elements or issues.
Concerns:: No usability gaps were found

Other Issues and Comments:: The material is based on Blackboard Learn. The platform used has evidence of its effectiveness. This is an excellent teaching resource for educators.
Creative Commons: