Teaching Intricate Content Online: It Can Be Done and Done Well

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite a plethora of online course offerings over the past decade, we continue to see resistance to this platform for course delivery, particularly with content that is ostensibly too sensitive or difficult to deliver in this format. This article describes an approach to online course planning and design, with attention paid to creating rich and meaningful student-to-content interactions, as well as student-to-instructor interactions. The instructors approached the design of this course to address personalization (student-to-instructor interaction), meaningful engagement (student-to-content interaction), and ongoing checks of student understanding (student-to-instructor and student-to-content interactions). After using this approach to develop and then teach a course focused on instructional strategies for students with significant support needs, we captured students' perspectives regarding the efficacy of the course. As such, we conclude the article with recommendations for future online course development and implementation in the field of teacher education.