Creating a Course – the Process

Before we begin:

  • This guide assumes that you already have your course content in handwritten form or in a text document.
  • Note that your course must be properly spelt and grammar checked. Proper references must be given where you have borrowed from someone else’s work. See the Harvard referencing guide
  • If you are going to create a course you must possess very good literary skills as we do not want to pass on bad literary habits to our students.
  • You must have a very good command of the course subject i.e. your course must have a starting point that takes the student to a conclusion that is scripturally sound.
  • Courses can be modular i.e small courses that go with other small courses to make up a full course.

1. ORGANISE YOUR COURSE  

First decide whether you will go for the modular approach or for a full course.

Modular Courses

When major courses are broken into modules each module could become a small course. In doing it this way people who are interested in learning only a module will not be forced to do a full course with other modules they might not be interested in. Not all courses are suited for this type of approach

Full Courses

Go for a full course if each module cannot stand independently of the others i.e. to get the full picture you need to complete all the modules.

For the purposes of OSB you need to organise your course as follows.

  1. Create a course outline to include:
    1. Name of the course
    2. Course modules
    3. Lessons for each module
    4. An assessment for each module
  2. Organise course according to your outline
    1. Based on the size of your course divide the course into its main points (like the main headings of the course) These will become the course modules
    2. Divide these main headings into smaller sub headings that will become lessons.
  3. Create assessments for each module by writing out questions/activities to cover material taught throughout the module.

Note: Each course must have two or more modules. Each module must have three or more lessons. Each module should have an end of module assessment. A small modular course could have only one lesson and assessment.

It is extremely important that your course material is laid out in a way that makes it very easy to read and follow. Your course must be formatted to include:

  • Main headings
  • Sub headings
  • Paragraphs
  • Numbered and/or bulleted lists where necessary
  • Quotes that can be recognised differently from the main text
  • Images and icons to break up the monotony of block text

Note: The next step in this process will include examples and templates, so don’t panic.

Identify your course resources and plan the course assignments. Resources may include Youtube videos, ebooks and e-magazines etc.

Note: For ease of access we recommend that, as much as is possible, make all your resources web based.

Assignments are: tasks for students to complete as requested in the lesson. Example read a specific chapter of the bible or a book.

Assessments are: tests set by the tutor to test if a student has completed and understood the course material.

2. SUBMIT YOUR COURSE

Once the above is completed submit your course to OSB to be reviewed

After your course is reviewed you will be informed as to whether it is:

1. Accepted. Accepted courses may need corrections or adjustments as noted by the review team.

2. Rejected. Rejected courses should not be resubmitted. As courses would not be rejected unless they have major problems like doctrinal issues.

3. Recommended for resubmission. Courses recommended for resubmission are courses that need a great amount of restructuring or adjustments. After the recommended corrections are made these courses usually pass the second review.

Note: It is advisable that you contact us first to discuss your proposed course before you begin the process of setting up your course using our system. This is to avoid having duplicated courses etc.

3. TEACH YOUR COURSE

If your course is accepted you must then decide if you will be tutor for your course. If yes, you must register to become a tutor and be taught how to use our tutor dashboard and how to administer a course.

Continue to start organising your course >>

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