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Interaction considerations

Redesigning Courses for Online Delivery

ISBN: 978-1-78190-690-3, eISBN: 978-1-78190-691-0

Publication date: 10 January 2014

Abstract

Learner-centered interactions determine the look and feel of online courses, influencing the way learners experience them. In this chapter we investigate considerations related to three types of interactions: learner–content, learner–instructor, and learner–learner. Learners interact with content through the course structure and layout. They also interact with peers who may be cast in the role of community members, there to provide social support, or they may be more prominently cast as information providers and/or collaborators. The learner is at the center of both content and peer interactions. Instructor interactions set expectations for learners and facilitate learner interactions with content and peers. Instructors are instrumental forces in bringing about connections between learners, enabling the social presence necessary for collaboration. Instructor interaction may also be relational, enabling individualized connections between learners and the instructor. Redesign decisions center on creating a course structure that fits the learner and content and results in a satisfying course experience. We use the power of metaphor to bring into focus the most relevant considerations. In the end, we illustrate the redesign of a single course through the lens of three separate metaphors to demonstrate how metaphor shapes the process, bringing together design and interaction decisions to create unique and elegant course designs.

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Citation

(2014), "Interaction considerations", Redesigning Courses for Online Delivery (Cutting-Edge Technologies in Higher Education, Vol. 8), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 45-79. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2044-9968(2013)0000008004

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited