Online Course Organization

One of my favorite things to do as an instructional designer is advise faculty on organizing their online courses. Though there are many perfectly functional & intuitive ways to do so, I have a “go-to" structure that some professors may want to adopt.

First, be aware that as a course designer, you are free to add menu items to your course as you see fit. Common ones are “Course Content,” “Discussion Board,” “Syllabus,” “Instructor Bio,” “Tests & Quizzes,” “Blackboard Support,” “Grades,” etc. You can order them in a way that makes sense and leave it at that.

Know, however, that you can also add “headers” on the menu. Headers help create a mental map for you and your students, making it easier to navigate if there are a lot of items on the menu. In Blackboard, headers are called subheaders. To add headers/subheaders, go to the top “+” sign function and scroll down to subheader. You will be prompted to give your subheader a name, which you can just type in (I recommend all caps to further set the header apart from what’s under that header, but that is up to individual preference.)

Once you add the subheader, it will immediately be populated at the bottom of the menu, but you can move it to where you want on the menu simply by dragging it “up” to any point. I recommend the following headings:

• GETTING STARTED – this section would include sub-menu-items like Welcome Message, Instructor Bio, Syllabus, Syllabus Quiz, Student Introductions (basically, anything that students do in the first 1-3 days or week of the course to get situated and ready for the regular weekly learning content.)
• COURSE CONTENT – this section would include sub-menu items like Modules, Week Folders, Units (or a combination of the three), Tests/Quizzes, Midterm Exam, Final Exam, Major Papers, Projects, Presentations, Research Assignment (basically, the parts of the course that are the actual learning content, including readings, instructional videos, PowerPoint slides, assignment submission links).
• COMMUNICATION – this section would include sub-menu items like Discussion Board, Announcements, Blackboard Email, Course Messages, Zoom (all aspects of the course in which students interact with the instructor and/or students interact with students).
• ADMIN & SUPPORT – this section would include sub-menu items such as My Grades (link for students to see their grades), Course Evaluation, Blackboard Support, Technical Support, Academic Support, etc.

You do not have to limit yourself to these four subheaders, or use this nomenclature exactly, but these categories tend to be catch-all in terms of what’s in a typical course. If you would like any further ideas or help in organizing your online course content, don’t hesitate to reach out to an instructional designer. We are happy to help.