Part 1: Lousy, Inflexible Course Content

Note: this is part 1 of 5 in the series "Overcoming the Challenges of Online Learning"

My team has struggled to find curriculum that is a good fit for our school and the families that we serve. The content we have reviewed is either dated (primarily text-based), expensive (you must purchase a subscription to the entire catalog), or rigid (can't edit or modify it in anyway; only compatible with a few LMS systems).

While I wouldn't say we have completely overcome this challenge, we have found a pretty neat way to customize our courses using Google Sites. If we find a lesson within a course that we are uncomfortable or unhappy with, we re-build the lesson with our modifications using Google Sites, embedding the site into our LMS when finished. The collaborative nature of Google Sites allows a team to work on a lesson simultaneously without the need of expensive or complicated software. We have had a variety of individuals who modify curriculum for us, many who have a limited background in web authoring. Google Sites is very user-friendly and requires minimal training to use.

 

An example of a lesson we built using Google Sites

At some point I hope to share more about this system and how we have made it work. Kudos to my colleague Jason Ragsdale for his work on this project!

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Check out my other posts in this series:

1. Lousy, Inflexible Course Content - making your courses better.

2. Is that your work? - Overcoming the challenge of cheating. 

3. The Hallway Conversation - finding ways to encourage authentic conversations between students and instructors.

4. Pacing and Scheduling - helping students stay on schedule and learn discipline.

5. How does this work? - providing first hand experience to families who have no clue.