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Hi everyone, I’m Niya Bond, the faculty developer here at OneHE, and I’m excited to welcome you to our course on teaching pre-built or standardised content. Whether you’re new to teaching or have been doing it for years, pre-built courses can feel like a balancing act.
For example, we’ll ponder questions like, “How do I make a course feel like my own when the content is already set?” In this course, we’re going to explore just that – how you can bring your unique style to these courses while ensuring that your students receive the best possible learning experience.
I can’t wait to share tips, strategies, and stories that have worked for me and others. Let’s dive in!
To start, we’ll look at what pre-built courses are and how they can be adapted to fit your unique teaching approach.
Pre-built or standardised courses are comprehensive instructional packages that include pre-designed syllabi, lecture content, assignments, and assessments. These courses can range from fully standardised, with little room for modification, to more flexible, template-based versions. For instance, face-to-face large multi-section introductory courses often utilise pre-built materials to ensure uniform content across numerous class sections. In online education, pre-designed courses can facilitate the rapid expansion of program offerings. Institutions frequently provide pre-built courses to adjunct and part-time faculty to maintain quality standards and reduce preparation time, especially in general education courses.
In some cases, accreditation requirements drive the use of pre-built courses to ensure specific content coverage, particularly in professional programs. The rise of competency-based education has also led to an increase in pre-designed, self-paced modules. As the landscape of higher education continues to evolve, understanding the nature, benefits, and challenges of pre-built courses is becoming increasingly important for educators across various contexts. In this course, we’ll learn about the ways that educators can leverage the efficiency of pre-built courses while still preserving their unique teaching identities.
“Even if you’re working within a pre-built course with fixed assessments and learning objectives, you still have significant opportunities to enhance your students’ learning experience. Your expertise and personal touch remain invaluable. “
Get Involved And Share Your Learning
- Share your perspective. Throughout this course, you will see discussion prompts at the end of each lesson inviting you to share your thoughts and experience. We encourage you to respond to these discussion questions and read those of other educators to benefit from theirs. When you see a comment you agree with or find helpful, hit the ‘Like’ button to help other educators find it. You can also reply to any comments from other members that you find interesting.
- Ask a question. You can ask questions of experts and other educators in the discussion threads in courses.
- Pick up your course badges. To earn your Course Completion Badges make sure you mark all lessons as ‘Mark Complete’ once you have completed a lesson. At the end of the course, click ‘Mark Complete’ and you will be asked a few multiple-choice questions to earn a Course Completion badge. Once you’ve had a chance to apply your learning, come back to complete an Impact Badges by applying what you have learned in the courses and answering a short survey.
If you have any questions or issues, please email us at [email protected].