Course Content

The content (message) should be decided even before a technology (medium), such as videotape, the Web, or videoconference, is chosen. Good, sound content is at the heart of an effective distance education course, just as it is in a traditional course.

One myth about distance-delivered courses is that instructors have to "water down" or weaken the content of their courses. The distance-delivered content emphasizes the same core knowledge, practical skills, and application as the content in a traditional classroom. Usually, the instructors don't provide less content; they just deliver it in different ways. And the content should be "streamlined" so that unimportant information is eliminated. 

Photo courtesty of International Rice Research Institute

Instructional designers can help instructors focus course content through brainstorming and outlining. Brainstorming allows the instructional designer and the instructor to get all thoughts out. As shown by this photograph, one way to brainstorm is by the use "sticky notes" on a white board to help identify gaps in the content and presentation of the content. After brainstorming, the content of the course should be written in an outline format, showing specific information about what should be covered.

Throughout the content determination stage, instructors also should be advised that they need to think visually about how the content will be presented/displayed to learners. This is an area where instructional designers, based on their experiences with various technologies and educational development, can be of tremendous help. In the distance education environment, the "look" of how materials are presented can be as important as the content. For example, diagrams, charts, videos, photographs, and PowerPoint slides can be used to accentuate, simplify information, and provide "concreteness" to the content.

University of Florida instructors Rick Rudd and Tracy Irani and instructional designer Lisa Hightower discuss how they determine (or help determine) course content for distance delivery.

Hightower, Irani, and Rudd determine course content for distance delivery (1:48)

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