TYPOGRAPHY IN COURSE DESIGN
You encounter typography almost every day! Do you know what typography is?
You encounter typography almost every day! Do you know what typography is? Typography is how you arrange text and letters using spacing, different fonts, and different font sizes. You are using text and letters to create a story. You can use typography to convey various messages and create engaging and readable text. So why is this important for your online course? If you think about it, online course design is almost entirely using text, so why would you not want to use text to create a course that is both readable and visually appealing?
Reasons why you should use Typography in your course:
Optimizes readability – using good typography creates a visual hierarchy. It lets the reader know which elements are essential and how they relate to the other text in your course content. One example of this is using headers. Headers established the main points of each page of content. Examples of headings you can use are H1, H2, H3, and H4.
Creates accessible content: Did you know that you can make your content more accessible with learners who have poor vision depending on the font you choose? Many learners have learning disabilities such as poor vision, dyslexia, or aphasia and need to have course content be as accessible as possible. For example, make sure that all font letters you use are easily distinguishable since many fonts have letters that look alike.
Creates a memorable experience: By using good typography, you create a good experience for your learner. You hold their attention and thereby helping them to easily read and remember your course content and stay focused and engaged in the course.
Basics of Typography
Typography has the following elements that you need to understand to use in your course:
Typeface
Not to be confused with font, it is the style that makes up the font. In contrast, the font is how you graphically render a text character.
There are three types of typeface, (1) serif (2) san-serif and (3) decorative:
In your course, you will not want to use all three simultaneously. You will want to use two fonts at most to keep it clean and easy to read.
Contrast
You create contrast when you emphasize certain text and not the other. One example of this would be using headers or images that has text. You can use text size or color to signify which course information grabs the learner’s attention.
Example 1
Example 2
Hierarchy
Lets your learners understand what they need to read first and how content is organized. Headers allow you to manage your content using different heading:
Whitespace
Also called “negative space.” Whitespace ensures the content is not overwhelming and created when you chunk your content or create other groupings. It makes more visually appealing content by not allowing too much clutter to appear on the page.
Consistency
Having consistent fonts and hierarchy for your course content is vital. If you use too many fonts or hierarchy in one page of content and not in the other might lead to a confusing and even disordered look of your course.
Example of content having too many fonts
Color
The color you use for your content is important. One reason is you might have learners who are colorblind. You can quickly check for color contrast using this online contrast checker.
Alignment
This is how your text or images align with other elements in your course content. You want to keep this as consistent as you can. For example, you might want to place a course banner on the top center of your page or any images you use on the left of the page before the paragraph begins.
Now that you understand the basic principles of typography, I hope they will help you when designing your course content. Comment below if you are using typography principles in your course or any tips you would like to share!
IMPORTANCE OF A MODULE OVERVIEW
There is excitement, context, or curiosity created to stimulates students' interest in a topic.
When going to a bookstore or library, what is the first thing most people look at when they pick up a book that interests them? Is it the table of contents? The author or maybe the book summary? If the answer is the book summary, it also explains the importance of having a course module overview.
The book summary convinces people to read a book and creates a first impression on the reader, just like a course module overview creates that initial reaction from your students. That is why a course overview is an integral part of a course module. Before a student begins their module, described as a lesson, chapter, unit, or segment of instruction, the student should be introduced to the content and the module’s purpose.
The module overview summarizes what they will learn in the module, how it may build on previously learned information, and its relation to the course. It also helps students remember the main ideas, relevant information, and material covered in the course module.
Let’s break it down
Sample Module Overviews
Sample 1: Module Overview(Text)
Without even realizing it, we use the principles of psychology every day. Have we ever grounded a child for being disobedient? We are using negative punishment, a type of operant conditioning. Psychology studies behavior, emotion, and cognition. Psychologists work to understand people better and how and why we act in certain situations. In this module, we will review the history of psychology as a discipline. We will also discuss the variety of specialty areas in Psychology and the five fundamental goals of Psychology.
[ how it relates to the course ] Without even realizing it, we use the principles of psychology every day. Have we ever grounded a child for being disobedient? We are using negative punishment, a type of operant conditioning. Psychology studies behavior, emotion, and cognition. Psychologists work to understand people better and how and why we act in certain situations.
[ main ideas, relevant information, and material covered in the course module] In this module, we will review the history of psychology as a discipline. We will also discuss the variety of specialty areas in Psychology and the five fundamental goals of Psychology.
Sample 2: Module Overview(Text)
[ how it relates to the course ] Our previous lesson covered an introduction to chemistry and how it is found everywhere, not just in a lab setting. Drinking soda or having your plant hit sunlight, there is a chemical process happening. This module will cover the chemistry of life. Did you know that fruit is a rich source of biological macromolecules or large molecules needed for life?
[ main ideas, relevant information, and material covered in the course module] Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorus can be found in living things and are the critical building blocks of life. We will discuss the importance of these building blocks, their unique properties, and how their interactions with other atoms help shape life molecules.
A module overview can compare to presenting a lecture or lesson in a face to face class. You do not just start lecturing about the lesson. There is excitement, context, or curiosity created to stimulate students’ interest in a topic and connect new information to previous information. So be creative in the module overview!
Please let me know what other topics you would like for me to discuss in the comments below. See you in the next post and please share with others if you find this information useful!
MAKING COURSE CONTENT EASY TO READ
Have you have ever visited a web page and can't find what you are looking for on the page.
Have you have ever visited a web page and can’t find what you are looking for on the page. Many users get frustrated right away when they can’t locate what they need on the page. In an online course, users feel the same way. If you create a page that is all text or has a very long scroll, your students will not be excited about the content. They will find it tedious to read through every line of text or paragraph to figure out the content. Creating an easy-to-read page is easy to do. You will want to make sure your content has the following:
Heading/Subheadings– helps to organize the content.
Chunking – don’t group too much text together, make sure you create short logical paragraphs.
Transitions – make sure your content transitions easily from one idea to another.
Images – enhances your message and keep students interested.
Bullets/Numbered Lists – helps students visually see essential information.
White Space – makes sure that the content is not overwhelming and is created when you chunk your content or create other groupings.
Let’s look at an example and break down the different elements.
Headers/Subheadings
Makes content easy to locate and creates a visually appealing page. Main header will use <h1> tags, while subheadings will use <h2>, <h3>, <h4> tags.
Chunking
Creating short paragraphs of information makes the content less intimidating and easier to read.
Transitions
Transitions help readers understand how the content is connected. If you create several paragraphs of content, make sure to incorporate transitional statements like:
In addition
In particular
For example
In fact
For this purpose
In conclusion
Images
Images reinforce the message. Use when appropriate.
Bullets/Numbered Lists
Helps students to locate key points and sort items.
White Space
Creates a visually appealing page and content. Content is not overwhelming and easier to understand.
In conclusion, creating clear and intuitive content and avoiding a cluttered page will facilitate learning, help students understand their lesson, and quickly locate the information they need.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post! Please post below how you design your course content and other methods you use to help students understand the course content.
MODULAR COURSE DESIGN
A well-designed course makes students perform the right choices and draw the correct conclusions about how they are supposed to navigate your course.
Have you ever visited a website and were confused about the website layout? Did you have trouble locating the information you were looking for on the website? Did you not understand how to navigate the website and were left feeling frustrated? Course design is very similar to website design. You want the user to have the best possible experience, locate the information/resources, and understand your course or website’s flow. A well-designed course makes students perform the right choices and draw the correct conclusions about how they are supposed to navigate your course. Using modular course design will help achieve this goal.
Why Course Modules?
Creating course modules in your online course is best practice. By dividing your information into smaller, more manageable segments of information and presenting it in a linear format, there is less likelihood that your student will have problems following your course structure and navigation. Designing your course in this approach is considered modular course design. In other words, you want to use segments of information that uses a logical path to teach your class. Each module is a self-contained block of information.
A book, for example, uses a modular approach. The chapters in the book would be considered modules. Each module is unique and has content related to only that specific module. So just like a book, you want to create content that makes sense for those modules. For example, most instructors create modules titled ” Week 1, Week 2, so on and so forth” This approach lets the student know that the course is structured by the current week. You don’t want to title one module “Lesson 1” and then your next module “Chapter 2”, where there is no consistency.
Components of a Course Module
Once you decide on the naming convention of your modules, what elements will make up a module? It all depends on your teaching style, but recommended components to include will be the following:
Banner (Optional)
Module Overview – overview of your course module.
Learning Objectives – what does your module hope to accomplish?
Lecture – made up of text, PPTs (PowerPoint), PDFs, video, audio, or external resource.
Assignments – help students to understand the concepts and ideas presented in the course.
Quizzes/Exams/Test/Labs -these assessments help identify any knowledge deficiencies and help students focus on the areas they need to review.
Practice Exercises (Quizzes, Labs, etc.) – help students review or practice skills and knowledge acquired.
Discussion – help to facilitate communication between the students.
Feedback – in the form of a survey or other manner that allows students to give feedback on their course progress so far. Feedback from your students can help you understand if there are any course deficiencies.
Supplemental Resources (Optional) – links to websites, publisher content, or other external resources that further enhance students’ learning. You can make this an optional activity for the student.
Sample Modular Course Design Template
Sample modular course design structure of first two weeks of a course
Each module should be created in a logical sequence, although every module might not look the same. You might include some components in a module but not in others. What is essential is to be consistent.
Modular course design helps to design a successful online course. Once you carefully develop one module, it not only creates a template for your other course modules, you can also visually see how your modules relate to your course syllabus and course outcomes. Additionally, it enables you to transfer over content more easily from one part of the class to another or to another Learning Management System (LMS).
What are your thoughts about using modular course design for your course? Do you think your students benefit more from this type of course design? Let me know in the comments below!
I CREATED LEARNING OBJECTIVES, NOW WHAT?
After designing learning objectives, what activities will help achieve the learning objectives?
After designing learning objectives, what activities will help achieve the learning objectives? Depending on the subject area, there are various types of activities that a student can complete. A well-designed course module will have assignments, opportunities for discussion, collaboration, quizzes, exams, test, labs and practices exercises.
How Course Activities Help Student Learn
Assignments – helps students to understand the concepts and ideas presented in the course.
Discussion/Collaboration – help to facilitate communication between the students.
Quizzes/Tests/Exams/Labs/Practice Exercises – these assessments help identify any knowledge deficiencies and help students focus on the areas they need to review.
Course Activities
Using Bloom’s Taxonomy, Let’s go over the different activities you can design in your course.
Activities:
Code
Concept Mapping
Ice Breaker
Practice Quiz/Exam/Test
Read
Activities:
Discussion Forums
Debate
Oral Reports
Quiz, Exam, Test
Review (Play, Movie, Audio, Book, etcetera.)
Wikis
Activities:
Art Project
Group Problem Solving/Presentations/Reports
Interview
Journaling
Laboratory Experiments
Portfolios, Presentations
Simulations
Activities:
Brainstorming
Essay
Fieldwork
Group Reports/Debugging
Reflection
Activities:
Article Critique
Case Briefs
Case Studies
Document Analysis
Literature Review
Peer Editing/Review
Activities:
Audio Recording
Blogging
Gaming
Graphic Design
Individual Project
Video Creation
Web Design
Things to Consider when Designing Course Activities
Once you decide on the learning activities for your course module, you need to consider the following:
Learning Objectives – do the activities align with your with your learning objectives? Will the students achieve the skills you outlined in your objectives?
Relevancy – are the activities relevant to your course and the learning process? Do they promote learning and have an educational purpose?
Technical requirement – do students need to use specific software or create an online account to access certain tools? Are you familiar with the technology that you want your students to use? Are your students? Do not assume students are familiar with any technology you want to use in your course.
Designing your activities is an important step in your course module design process. By creating activities that align with your objectives, you not only make sure that your students have a successful learning outcome, but you also keep your students engaged and on task.
Do you agree with the activities that I used to match with Bloom’s Taxonomy? Why or why not? What activities do you like to use in your course? Please share it below!