The following are three distinctive ways of designing a distance delivered course:

Design A: Low-Tech / High Interaction

• Light - moderate use of technology
• Powered by the instructor's weekly interactions in the course's discussion board
• This is a highly interactive course with 1 - 2 discussion questions each week
• Text-driven lectures and/or PowerPoint presentations
• Minimal learning objects (a learning object is any digital resource that can be used to support learning, such as video, diagrams, timelines, interactive movie, etc.)
• Learning objects are selected and used by instructor as needed
• Students will post replies to 1-2 discussion questions each week; the instructor will direct additional questions and comments based on student responses for the entire class to review and comment.
• High maintenance from instructor
• Participation (in the form of asynchronous class discussions) should be a substantial part of the course grade
• Live chats suggested
• Automated testing
• Materials easy to update by instructor requiring minimal training

Design B: High-Tech / Low Interaction

• Heavy use of technology
• Powered by technology with less interaction from instructor
• This is a less interactive course with discussion questions only every other week
• Lectures are created in Swish, Flash, Captivate, PowerPoint or other audio-visual presentation
• Maximum use of learning objects
• Learning objects are in place and ready to use when semester begins
• Instructor's bi-weekly interactions in the course's discussion board require less time than design A
• Students will post replies to one discussion question every other week
• Instructor still needs to direct additional questions and comments based on student responses for the entire class to review and comment.
• Participation (in the form of asynchronous class discussions) should be a relatively small part of the course grade
• Low-moderate maintenance from instructor
• Automated testing
• Updating materials requires training in selected programs
• Live chats suggested

Design C: Hybrid

• This design uses ideas from designs A and B tailored to your needs for the class
• Discussion questions can be dispersed based on progress of students at teacher's discretion
• Learning objects selected as needed at instructor's discretion
• Flexibility in discussion question plan
• Optional chats
• High input needed from instructor for materials
• Automated or live testing