1 Course Structure

The class is organized into six modules, spanning 15 weeks. It is important that you pay attention to the schedule as the length of the modules varies throughout the length of the course.

• Module 1 is for introductions. Some students could be new to the course, and will be added to an existing team. You must also familiarize yourself with the format of the course in Blackboard and in the PLE. You will be provided with instructions, and ways in which to test your computer equipment for compatibility with needed software tools.

• Module 2 is for Design Foundations. Students will begin the process of designing the prototype development. You will have readings, deliverables, and must make progress on the development each week. Each team must collaborate on the outline for Lab 1, along with a glossary and reference materials. Each student must write an original individual Lab 1.

• Module 3 is for Detailed Design. Students will prepare a detailed Gantt chart of the tasks to be completed by each student on each team. A collaborative outline of Lab 2 Specifications and Requirements will be created, and each student will submit an original portion of the lab. The third section of the lab is a collaborative document, however, each student will have an authoring responsibility. Again, there will be lecture content, deliverables, and prototype progress.

• Module 4 is for Testing and Evaluation. The lab is a test plan with individual and collaborative aspects. At the end of this module, students will demonstrate their prototype to their instructor and mentor. Corrections or suggested improvements will be noted.

• Module 5 is for reflection. Each week during the semester, students are required to prepare a personal reflection about the course and the work required. Lab 5 is a summary of these efforts. The prototypes will be completed and delivered to the mentors.

• Module 6 is for Lessons Learned.

Each Module begins with the overview page. After reading that page, you should look at the assignments page to see what will be expected of you. After reviewing the assignments, you should start exploring the content through the topics menu.

Each week, you could have 6 tasks:

1. Reading - material to read will be provided on the course site.

2. Assignment - assignments will be available in Blackboard (under Assignments) and must be submitted through Blackboard.

3. Discussion Questions - The discussion questions are listed in the PLE assignments page Live Recitations–each group is registered for an hour long recitation. During this time, we will be able to have a live conversation about your papers and prototype progress. We will meet when needed–which might not be every week for every team.

1.1 Timeline

The information for each week will be available on Monday and all assigned activities will generally be due at the end of the week. Note that initial discussion postings are due by Wednesday so that your peers have time to comment on your post. There will be a specific due date included in each specific category (assignment, discussion, reflection, etc). For a general overview of the course activities, please refer to the Schedule link.

1.2 Clarification

Use the CyberCafe link in Blackboard to ask for clarification on assignments, readings, due dates, or anything else related to each week’s information. If you know the correct answer, feel free to answer your peer’s questions.

2 Interaction & Collaboration

An often mentioned fear of online education is the “fear of isolation”. This fear stems from the fact that typically, there is not a face-to-face component in an online classroom. To overcome this fear, online classrooms encourage interaction with peers via threaded discussions. The discussion question which an instructor would ask in a face-to-face classroom is now posted in the online classroom. As students and the instructor respond to one another’s posted comments, a discussion thread begins to form.