Standards In Practice: NSQ Online Courses – Standard E2

An item from this “national standards” initiative.

Standard Highlight:  Online Courses Standard E:  Accessibility and Usability E2: The online course design facilitates readability. Download PDF Short description:   Clarity is the hallmark of great instructional design in online and blended learning.  Readability refers to clean, easy-to-understand, and accessible course materials that encourage the consumption and processing of instruction without distraction. It also relates to assignments, discussions, projects, and other activity descriptions and instructions that the learner understands without confusion or need for additional clarification. The adage “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” is especially true in developing and delivering lessons and assignments in online and blended learning environments. Course materials should be explicit from the start, particularly assignment and project descriptions! By:  Dr. Jason Neiffer, Executive Director of Montana Digital Academy  Helpful Hints for putting the standard into practice Strategies Include:  Throughout the course design process, build multiple levels of review into assignment instructions. Be sure to include individuals who lack specific subject-matter expertise to mimic an emerging learner in the content’s perspective.  Reviewers should look for instructions that might require specific subject knowledge, advanced subject vocabulary, digital or physical materials needs, or other components that should be built into assignment or lesson instructions. Regular feedback is a powerful tool for enhancing the clarity of assignment instructions. Provide a form link (such as an anonymous Google or Microsoft Form) at the end of each set of assignment instructions, inviting students to rate the clarity of the instructions. This feedback loop allows for immediate improvements and fosters a culture of continuous improvement in course design. Consider providing a checklist for longer, more complex assignments.  Not only does this give a double-check for you to compare against the assignment instructions, but it also provides students a convenient guide to complete all components of the learning activity as designed. This can also be accomplished by sharing grading criteria or rubrics if those will be utilized by the course teacher to evaluate assignments. Providing exemplars can give students a clearer sense of your expectations; however, this can be a double-edged sword.  Exemplars can also limit student creativity in meeting the requirements of any particular learning activity. Write course learning activity instructions in the form of a narrative to increase engagement.  Let’s face it– assignment instructions aren’t always the most thrilling read! But there are ways to make them more engaging for your learners. Try to find angles that make the instructions personally relevant and interesting. Tell a story, create a sense of urgency, or build in a bit of mystery. Consider what would grab your attention and make you want to keep reading. It’s like adding colorful vegetables to a plate of bland food一 it suddenly becomes much more appealing. Putting in that extra effort to engage your learners will help them stay motivated and focused as they work through the assignment. Share a clear description of the purpose of every learning activity. Learners are more likely to engage with them if they understand the value and importance of what they’re doing. So don’t just tell them what to do—tell them why it matters. Help them see how the assignment connects to their goals and interests. When reviewing course assignments, pull multiple examples of student work across the spectrum of student performance.  Evaluate if consistent student deficiencies in performance provide an opportunity to rewrite or clarify assignment instructions. Emerging artificial intelligence tool sets allow designers to evaluate and refine assignment instructions before using assignments with students.  You can utilize tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or Gemini to evaluate current instructions or even preview output.  Potential prompts include: Evaluate these assignment instructions for clarity. You are a student in my 10th grade world history class.  Your strategy is to read instructions once and complete the assignment.  Read these instructions and tell me your plan for completing the assignment. Evaluate these assignment instructions for my middle school life science class.  Make a list of all actions you would do to complete the assignment. Here is an assignment for my dual credit literature class and the rubric I’m using to grade the assignment.  Evaluate that everything I’m grading on is clearly asked for in the instructions. Dig Further Into This Topic TILT: Transparency in Learning & Teaching: this research-driven, comprehensive framework for designing learning assignments is aimed at higher education, but also works well in K-12 with little adaptation. Understanding By Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe: this classic text in K-12 curriculum design provides course designers a framework for developing learning activities built to meet objectives… by design.  This text takes on increased relevance when using AI tools to help design courses, as it can provide instantaneous feedback to teachers, course authors, and instructional designers to help build clear, high quality distance learning.  Other resources are available from Vanderbilt University, ASCD, and CBE Life Sciences Education. Design for How People Learn by Julie Dirksen: this easy-to-read guide focuses on developing engaging course materials, critical to engage students throughout the learning process.  Other resources are available from Useable Learning, eLearning Art, and Hone. Why Don’t Students Like School? by Daniel Willingham: Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham mixes research with practical advice on designing learning and assessment.  Although it isn’t specific to distance learning, it provides vital advice to understand how learning works and how you can design brain science into every day learning modules or units.  Other resources are available from Dr. Willingham’s YouTube channel and blog, and his articles at the American Educator. Author and Organization Bio  Dr. Jason Neiffer is the Executive Director of Montana Digital Academy, Montana’s state virtual school. For over 25 years, Jason has pursued innovative ways to combine technology and pedagogy to make learning engaging and meaningful for students of all ages. His professional interests include distance learning, media literacy, digital productivity, artificial intelligence, social studies, and humanities education.  His first work in educational technology was in 1984 when he set up all of the Apple IIe computers at Roosevelt Elementary School as a precocious (rambunctious?) 4th grader.  He has been chasing the thrill of Lemonade Stand and Oregon Trail ever since! Check out the NSQ Website and  NSQ Professional Learning Portal for more resources.

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