The planning process of converting materials to a distance education format is equally as important as the planning process of a traditional course and “knowing the basic principles of instructional design can help to ensure that what is produced serves a necessary purpose, meets the needs of students, is attractive and well organized, is delivered in an appropriate mode, and is continually evaluated and improved (Morrison, Ross, Kalman, & Kemp, 2011, p.5).
Traditional courses cannot just be copied and pasted into an online learning format because the “focus of the instruction shifts to visual presentations, engaged learners, and careful timing of presentations of information” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright& Zvacek, 2012, p.153).
The first thing people will tell you when converting a face to face course into a distance learning format, is do not just simply copy and paste your content into an online environment. We have to remember that they are two separate learning environments that require different instructional strategies and formats.
Prior to converting your face to face course into an online course, a few things should occur (Pappas, 2011):
The considerations above will be discussed in further detail in this manual.
These are not the only suggestions available. Here is a list of stages that may also be used if needed (Developing Online Courses, n.d):
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