While the spring semester has ended for most colleges and universities, I’m still teaching. I usually teach a few summer classes in our graduate program in May and June. I’m midway through two online classes that will end in two weeks and then I have another online class that starts in early June. Although the course doesn’t start for a few weeks, I’m planning and building the instructional modules now. I like to have my online courses designed and built before they start. I usually modify things once the class starts, but most of the content is ready to go before the semester begins.
I only teach the course I’m prepping once a year and it’s usually only in June. By this time of the academic year, I’m pretty spent. So, I’ll tweak some things and update some of the readings and videos, but I’ll usually keep most of the assignments and assessments the same from the previous year. I’ve been doing this for the last few summers, though. Looking at the course a few weeks ago, I realized it was time for a major overhaul.
If you don’t teach online, it may be challenging to imagine what this type of instructional preparation entails. I’ve been trying to describe the work to my wife, who works in education but not as a teacher. In our conversation, I landed on a remodeling metaphor that seemed to best capture what I was doing.
Imagine you have a spare bedroom in your house. The only time the room is really used is when visitors come, which might be once a year during the holidays. Before the visitors arrive, you tidy things up, put new bedsheets on the bed and lay out some fresh towels. After your hard work, the room is ready for your holiday guests to visit.
After a few years, though, you realize that the bedroom is looking a little dated. You buy a new lamp for the end table. You put a fresh coat of paint on the walls. You buy a comforter some matching curtains. You’ve remodeled the room so it’s looking a little more current. It’s ready for the holidays and your visiting guests.
Sometimes, though, you realize that the room isn’t serving your (or your guests’) needs anymore. Your guests aren’t complaining or anything, but you notice that the room could use some attention. You decide to take on a huge remodeling project. You take the walls down to its studs. You rip up the carpeting and run new electrical work. You buy new bedroom furniture. You design a brand-new space to better serve your holiday guests.
No metaphor is perfect, but this one does a good job of capturing the different levels of instructional preparation of online courses. If I were to connect my current course redesign efforts to the remodeling metaphor, I’m firmly at the “take it down to the studs” level. I’m rebuilding the course from the ground up. New readings. New videos. New assignments and assessments. It’s going to be a brand-new course. Like a significant home remodeling project, redesigning a course requires time and effort. It also involves lots of patience, reflection, and revision. I’m happy to report that the course is almost ready. Thankfully I still have a few weeks before my “visitors” arrive.
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