Center for Online Learning
Vista - Online Course Design Template
Explanation and Components of the Template
Based on research and expert advice, we've developed a course template that you can use that effectively demonstrates the principles of good design for an online course. This template serves as a model course that you then can modify, edit, and custom for your own course. You'll add your own supporting content files, create your own assignments, even add your own quizzes. The template will take care of the navigation and give you guidelines of what content you might consider adding. For more information on our design strategy, please view our Online Course Design page.
| Pre-configured component (Topic) | More Information / Best Practice |
|---|---|
| Welcome page | More information |
| Overview pages | More information |
| "Start Here" Module | More information |
| Learning Modules | More information |
| Pre-built Discussions | More information |
| Student Chat Lounge | |
| Course Toolbar customization (Mail, Discussions, Announcements and My Grades tool) | |
| Organized File Manager structure | More information |
| Preconfigured formative feedback | More information |
What does it look like? To preview the template, login to https://my.georgiasouthern.edu with trainingGuest, as the username, letmein as the password.
Use the template
Please choose one of the following methods for deploying the template in your course:
1. New Course that no development has occurred - Fill out the Template Request Form
2. Modify existing course with template components - See below
If you already have a course built and would like to modify that course by using some of the modules in the online course design template, we've now got the modules in a format you can use to do that. Each of these modules can be downloaded to your computer and imported into your course. They'll include the necessary components of the module and add the files to the file manager. All you then have to do is add them somewhere in your course. The tutorials and table below should guide you through the process.
| Component | Description | Download link |
|---|---|---|
| All Modules | This file contains the entire collection of modules (Start Here + Weeks 1-15) | Download (.zip) |
| "Start Here" Module | Includes an Overview Page, Welcome Page, Course Schedule, Communication Rules, Course Structure, Technology Needs, Introduction Assignment Instructions, and a Module Evaluation | Download (.zip) |
| Week 1 - 15 | Each week's module includes an Overview Page and Module Evaluation. They are intended to be used as part of a 16 week course, however, you could easily adapt your course to any schedule by using the appopriate number of modules. |
Using the Modules
Importing into your course
1. Once you've download the appropriate files to your computer, login to your course.
2. In "Build" mode, click the Content Import link in the upper right corner.
3. From the File Browser window, click Upload File.
4. Click Browse, choose the .zip file and then click Open.
5. Click Add Selected and the import process will begin. Once finished, click Return.
The module(s) will now be available in Build mode from the Learning Modules link. It is recommended that if you add the "Start Here" module, you add it to the hompage, and if you add the Week 1-15 modules, that you create an Organizer Page to house them.