All of your decisions in the analysis and design phases help you to stay focused in the development phase. For many faculty teaching online, the development step is iterative: write and organize, teach, and re-write and re-organize based on formative and summative assessments. In many ways, this process may not vary from your face-to-face teaching experiences.
A good axiom to follow when developing an online course is to begin with the end in mind. The course goal(s) and learning objectives you wrote and envisioned in the first two phases should guide your decisions as you develop the instructional events to help students successfully achieve the desired course outcomes. In general, developing an effective online course requires identifying and creating activities and core content.
Although you can begin development by creating either the activities or content first, many faculty find developing the activities first helps them to more effectively construct the core content (e.g., what conditions, knowledge, and information the students will need to complete the activity successfully). Best practices in online teaching and learning promote activities which are learner-centered, practical, and relevant.
Again, your course goal(s) and learning objectives help guide your design of instructional activities. Look at the learning objectives you drafted for your course. What type of activities would enable students to demonstrate mastery of learning objectives? Can you think of one activity which would enable students to demonstrate mastery of the course goal(s)? If so, such an activity may make an effective final course project. When employing a culminating activity, you may want to design other activities throughout the course to help students develop the knowledge and skills needed to complete this final project successfully.
Webcourses@UCF offers a wide selection of technology tools to develop a variety of activities. Remember to select the most effective tool to meet the learning objectives.
If you approached development of your online course by identifying the activities first, ask yourself: What knowledge and skills do students need to successfully complete the activity? (The information you identify when addressing this question comprises the core content.)
Core content can be written lectures, presentations, printed materials, secondary sources, as well as audio and video resources.
After developing your course, you are ready to deliver or implement it.