Teaching methods and strategies have been categorized in many ways, both for teaching and course development. In regard to course development, researchers often argue for a user-centered design, which is based on the ways computer users work with technology. In fact, an online course itself is a system and a technology with which users (teachers and students) must learn to work.

If a user-centered focus is the basis for an online course design, then the users must become involved in the design process. If your institution favors a user-centered approach, prospective and current students must be brought into the design process. This step requires a great deal of planning to ensure that the design works well with a variety of users and that their input is continually valued and sought to assist in course maintenance and revision, once the course is in place in the curriculum. If a designer-centered approach is used by the institution, teachers should be actively involved in the process. Some universities and colleges now rely on outside vendors to supply course materials or structures, which may or may not be appropriate for all courses in the curriculum. In a designercentered approach, whoever is the course designer determines how the course site will operate and what will be included in the electronic materials. In addition, the amount and types of interactivity with the system and with other learners and the teacher/facilitator also have to be determined. If the course-development process will be designer-centered, teachers should work closely with technical specialists to create a usable, appropriate structure and content for each course.

Instead of user-centered or designer-centered as terms describing the design process, other researchers use teacher-centered approach and learnercentered approach. If a design is centered around the teacher’s preferences in materials and activities, the design is teacher-centered, whereas if students’ preferences are the determining factors in the design, the plan is said to be learner-centered.

Teachers often recreate the educational stance that is most familiar or comfortable for them. However, for online education to be effective, learners must work with a wide variety of materials and resources. Much of online education needs to be learner directed, and course developers need to consider students first in course and curriculum design.

As a course is being planned, designers need to determine how many and what types of materials will be included at the course site and how much and what types of activities will engage learners with these materials. Designers need to determine how much of a constructivist approach or a behaviorist approach, or a combination, will be used to frame the design. In a constructivist approach, real-world work experiences and social contexts in which knowledge and skills are typically used are emphasized. For example, online activities may mimic those tasks required in a workplace. Problem solving, simulation, and team building may help create that real-world environment. In a constructivist approach, students add to what they already know and apply what they are learning. Course projects are often used in a constructivist approach.

 Dialogue among learners, the teacher, and other subject matter experts, as well as group activities that foster learning partnerships, help students construct knowledge. Group activities, social interaction, and application of concepts are often used online as part of a constructivist approach.

A behaviorist approach provides students with materials through which learners gather the important concepts. This approach is often pictured as the teacher imparting information through lectures or notes and is generally more passive for learners than a constructivist approach. With a behaviorist teaching approach, learners are given links to other Web sites, notes, lectures—whether in print or multimedia—and other materials as a framework of knowledge necessary to understand a subject.

A balance between constructivism and behaviorism is often found in online classes. Students are “lectured” in some format for part of the course, but practical applications and the making of meaning through learners’ activities are also emphasized.

The levels of interaction with materials and activities also are important to consider in course design. Rote memorization and repetitive tasks are lowerlevel cognitive activities. Recall or identification of information is the lowest level (Knowledge) of cognitive levels, with the highest level at Evaluation. The mental processes become increasingly complex from the lowest to highest levels.

Within the curriculum, early (lower-level) courses may involve less complex thinking, but as mastery of knowledge and skills increase, students should demonstrate higher levels of thinking, such as synthesizing information and applying concepts. Throughout the online curriculum, as students progress within a course and from course to course, a variety of experiences must be provided to stimulate students’ higher-order mental processes.

There may be gaps in what students know, or wide variation among learners in a class as to what they know. A blend of behaviorist and constructivist approaches should be used to prepare students to complete an activity appropriately, but not to reveal the point of the activity. Learners should be able to explore materials and come up with their own answers, but they must be guided along this process so they have a starting point to approach an exercise. In your planning, you should anticipate the range of experiences and knowledge that students have when they enter a course or begin their work in a degree program.

As you plan a single course or an entire curriculum, you and the team working with you must determine what types of interaction are appropriate for the level and subject matter of the course. Students in an online academic environment must be able to think critically, not merely memorize information, and apply their knowledge to new situations. The way you design courses and plan the curriculum should reflect students’ progression through a series of carefully created and monitored learning experiences.