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[molli_sols]

I have developed a few online classes before but this is my first that is a translation of an F2F class.  The F2F class will continue to run after the online section open so the two courses must cover the same syllabus.  However, the F2F class runs on a normal semester length and the online course runs in a 1/2 semester format.  I am having difficulty adjusting the workload in the online class because if I simply double up the F2F weeks the assignments (split over discussion boards and homework) become pretty heavy for one week in the online format.  Most of the homework assignments are designed to help students review the basic terminology, concepts, and make connections to previous topics (it's an STEM field).

How do people typically deal with this?  Do you simply have fewer assigned items per term?  Do you have some ungraded assignments and accept that they might not do them?

[larryc]

You can't cut back the content because the course schedule is compressed or because it is onlne. Absolutely double down on the assignments.

[slinger]

Yes. 

It should be the same course load as it's the same course.  Doing a course in 8 weeks means doing that amount of work in 8 weeks. 

One benefit of any online class is that you're not restricted to interactions and due dates only on certain days of the week.  You can spread out the assignments over the course of the week.  Make discussion posts due on Monday, readings due on Tuesday, problem sets due on Wednesday, etc.  At least that way, the students don't think you are piling on all the work at once. 

[fosca]

If the course is run in half the time, it needs to go twice as fast.  So yes, you need to load students down.  Hopefully they will have people to tell them that you can't take four classes the first half of the semester and four the second half and hope to survive or do well.  My students can't quite grasp that.

[larryc]

Also--divorce the face-to-face and online classes in your mind. They will prove to be completely different.

[zuzu_]

While I agree that you need to have the same outcomes (excuse the assessment-speak) in both versions of the course, I disagree that you need the same number of assignments.

The culmination/capstone type assignments should be the same. However in any accelerated course, I will often elminate some of the "practice" kinds of assignments leading up to the biggies.

For example, in a longer course, I might have a sample essay that students will discuss. This discussion might take half-hour of class time, or it might be up in an online discussion forum. In an accelerated class, I will post the sample essay for students to read and absorb, but I won't assign discussion.

My justification is that in a faster course, the students take more responsibility for connecting the dots. They need to absorb the readings better, since I'm not going to force them to practice applying the concepts in small assignments before they are expected to apply the same concepts in the major assignments. The culminating assessments/outcomes are equal in each class, but there is less "hand-holding."

[molli_sols]

Thanks for the responses.  I feel a lot of pressure to make this particular class excellent because it is the first for this particular program at the university.  So of course, there's lots of naysayers and lots of cautious supporters. Then again, my university could decide to cut online classes altogether or force a certain percent to go online or make some other giant change with no notice.  Run by a bunch of cowboys these days.

[spork]

Also--divorce the face-to-face and online classes in your mind. They will prove to be completely different.

Absolutely true.

[zharkov]

Thanks for the responses.  I feel a lot of pressure to make this particular class excellent because it is the first for this particular program at the university.  So of course, there's lots of naysayers and lots of cautious supporters. Then again, my university could decide to cut online classes altogether or force a certain percent to go online or make some other giant change with no notice.  Run by a bunch of cowboys these days.

In my experience, it takes 3 to 5 time of doing just about anything to get it right, whether a new class or a new recipe.  So don't set expectations too high, and build in an extra evaluation or assessment step at the end, beyond the typical likert scale jazz that every course gets.  Don't expect perfection out of the box and calling it the beta test version can help make that clear.

Make it very very clear to the students that the online version is an accelerated and intensive offering of the face to face class.   I agree with the point about not making all the assignments identical, but focusing on learning outcomes.