Dr. Trent Batson writes Not Your Parents' 'Course Content Delivery' in today's edition of Campus Technology. Dr. Batson makes a great case for re-examining what most colleges and universities do in the way of online coursework.
From my personal perspective: Online courses (and online components of courses) evolved as a delivery system over several generations, moving from mail (snail mail) correspondence schools, to audio cassette lectures, to courses on video, etc. - and to more sophisticated package systems that allow multiple interactions with a student working in an online environment. The earliest models fit very nicely into a traditional, assembly line system system where an individual progressed at a pre-determined pace with a structured start and end point. Unfortunately, the assembly line model for both K-12 and higher-ed are showing cracks around the edges as a system needing a serious overhaul.
The following quote provides a great summary of Dr. Batson's direction for a new era of digital interaction:
"Re-thinking assignment design is popping up everywhere. Using online tools allows students to use not only pre-packaged knowledge, but to use their own work (because it’s now possible) as the content: The real work of the course is for faculty members to help students create the content of the course. Content does not pre-exist the course; it is not fixed; nor is it entirely the work of others.Education is about change. Students learn to think like a physicist or an historian over the course of a few years. With digital tools, both faculty and students can gather more evidence of the change. With evidence of change, whole new perspectives open. The most memorable part of a course may be seeing how you yourself have changed during that course.
We now have the luxury of being imaginative in design of assignments. Let’s take this one small step."