Picture this: You just developed a 3-credit hour, 16-week online course. You incorporated learning activities, interactive collaborations, assessments, and a plethora of course content. Now, you’re tasked with teaching that same course in eight weeks, or even four weeks! What do you do next?
Rather than trying to contort all of your 16-week content into the shorter course structure, you may find value in streamlining your course preparation.
A good first step is to review your course learning objectives. Try to identify the essential components of your course by aligning specific elements with the stated course outcomes. For example, if students are asked to build something, then you may decide to prioritize hands-on course elements. Next, consider how to design a course structure that supports a steady learning pace while maintaining appropriate academic challenge.
One effective way to organize a course is to place everything students will need for each week—including reading materials, multimedia, discussions, assessments, and more—inside of learning modules. When you begin to build a new modular structure, reassess each element. For example, if your previous course included 10 discussion boards, you could reduce, combine, or redesign prompts so only half or even a quarter of the original total remain. As you make content and organization changes, it’s equally important to revise your schedule to address student workload expectations.
With accelerated courses, it’s crucial to balance a flexible yet organized schedule. Due to the condensed timeframe of the course, you may need to adjust interaction expectations and feedback turnaround times. For instance, you could set deadlines for all graded assessments at the end of the week to allow students ample time to access course materials. However, you might specify that small assignments will be graded within three days, while major assessments, such as midterms and finals, will be returned within seven days (or less, depending on the course length!). Late work policies may also need to be shortened or reassessed to reflect the fast-paced nature of the course.
You should also consider estimating your students’ weekly workload. One common rule of thumb recommends that students anticipate 2-3 hours of coursework per credit hour each week. However, this guideline typically refers to 16-week courses, and doubling or quadrupling the hourly study time for an accelerated course could result in staggering workloads. Though this guideline may prove helpful in some instances, you may find it more productive to customize a schedule that distributes a realistic amount of coursework each week.
To help you determine the approximate amount of time required per activity, you could consult a course workload estimator tool. Additionally, you should consider posting estimated time commitments throughout the course so students know how much time they should expect coursework to take and plan accordingly. Individual assignments and activities may contain an estimated range of time listed near the instructions, while module introductions or announcements can provide an overview of the total number of hours estimated for the week. As individual student performance varies, you should further communicate that time estimates do not guarantee accuracy of completion time.
While transitioning to a faster-paced course may initially leave you feeling rushed or overwhelmed, it also presents an opportunity for you to reimagine your course. By identifying the most essential components of your course, you can begin to customize a new, engaging learning experience. Though this transition is not without its challenges, you can approach the accelerated course format with thoughtful intent. A practical starting point is to begin by streamlining your course design with refined lesson plans and clearly communicated expectations.
Remember, the goal isn’t to squeeze your old course into a smaller span of time—your priority is to create an efficient, impactful learning environment!
