In Search of the
Perfect Class Building College Courses to Scale
Where I'm coming from
• Product of traditional higher education (but
I'm cynical)
• Tried to apply edtech to the status quo
(hybrid courses, 4-8 week online Grad
Courses, etc.)
• Time is the constant, Learning is variable
• But we were on the right track...
2009
new job, same career
• Startup culture = nothing is sacred
• Embrace the end user: It's all about the
dashboard
• Ease of Use = the best customer service
policy
2012
many Moodles later...
• Fast growth
• VC backed
• Blackboard using (but don't hold that against
me)
Learning is constant, time is the variable.
Current Events
• The non-accredited forces in Higher
Education are heating up.
• MOOCs hit the mainstream
• Loads of edtech options and tools introduced
every day
• Moodle is evolving very rapidly and
maintains its lead in terms of users, growth,
adoption and tools.
Which brings us to
present
What makes the perfect
course?
The $1,000,000 question:
How do you deliver courses for credit to 1,000
students at a time with just a few people?
My $.02 answer
Policy
and
Technology
Like a well balanced
Breakfast*
*great content
notwithstanding.
http://www.moodlenews.com/tag/oer/
What I'm aiming for
1.Aesthetics
2.Structure
3.Tools
4.Security
5.Credentials
Aesthetics
I'm talking themes and theme features
• Cover
• Blackbird
• Rocket
Would you rather learn
here...
or here...
or here...
Compatibility
Structure
Progression and Progress
Never leave students wondering how they
are doing or guessing what they should be
doing next.
Don't be afraid to make your course self-
service.
Completion and
Checklists
• Checklist
• Completion
• #Wish Returning students to where they left
off
ANY course is a sequence of objectives and
tasks to be completed.
The checklist mod
from http://www.somerandomthoughts.com/blog/2011/03/05/review-checklist-module/
Checklist (as in a list, not
necessarily the mod)
vs.
from
http://www.packtpub.com/article/moodle-makeover
Tools
For efficiency and effectiveness at scale (lots of
students, automating simple tasks is key)
• Assessment engine (and categorized
question pools)
• Learning Tools Interoperability
• Solid Gradebook
• Assignment Management + Needs Grading
Gradebook
Make it simple and make it work. All of my
courses are out of 1000 points/100%. It
makes calculations easy.
All it takes is a little planning.
Assessments that learn
Organized pools, appropriate rigor, scope,
breadth and depth.
Ability for student to
1. get instant feedback and
2. contest questions that may be problematic.
No course is perfect (but every course can
improve)
LTI is the future.
More LTI resources...
• http://www.imsglobal.org/lti/index.html
• http://www.imsglobal.org/cc/statuschart.cfm
Assignment Management
How do you grade 1000 essays a week?
You don't.
Rubrics + Ajax Marking Block + Staff = Timely, consistent feedback
Security
• Student ID verification (ID theft and
Cheating)
• Web-based proctoring (ProctorU)
• Plagiarism (Turnitin Grademark)
• IP checking
Credentials
Make it worthwhile.
Credit, Badges, Dual Enrollment...
Give students a chance to lay claim to the
materials and show off their achievements.
Credentials, 2
Certificate Module
Badges
This space is really heating up.
Q & A