Many components of higher education remain consistent through time; however, some changes have occurred to how the material gets presented and delivered, which have now altered the way people understand learning in this context. One change in the learning experience has been the increase in options for the length of a course.
The availability of choices for the course and program timeline began several decades ago, but it gained momentum with the availability of the online asynchronous learning environment. Higher education primarily features two timelines: the traditional 14/16 week semester length and an accelerated model where students take courses for roughly half the length of time (between 5-8 weeks) but with the same learning outcomes and retention requirements. While both methods have different components to consider, they both can be valuable to the student for gaining the necessary information to meet program goals. While I will not tell you which course length is better in the online modality, my goal is to compare the pros and cons when it comes to the student experience and how we can then design effectively in both timelines.
Delivering a Traditional Timeline Online
When thinking about the traditional timeline it is often associated with the face-to-face model of teaching. Because of this, online courses offered for a full semester will sometimes mimic the design of face to face, (which does not do the course justice due to different modality affordances and constraints). When many shifted to online course delivery in 2020, this phenomenon was noticed and documented. Palmer and Gallagher (2020) reported “Online learning became the default in 2020, but the approach most colleges are employing is simple “remote learning” via live Zoom classes, a method little evolved from video conferencing from the late-1990s.”
Delivering online courses can be and is done better than described above. With the longer amount of time found in a full semester, we have more space to explore what online courses can offer. We can provide more grace on timelines for assessments and due dates. Additionally, the content can be spread out more than in an accelerated model, meaning you can spend multiple weeks on one topic.
With all the affordances listed above, you can also incorporate multiple learning experiences and resources in an extended fashion without overwhelming the students. This includes resources such as videos, readings, and interactive spaces like Rise 360 or GoReact to create more engagement and assessments. You can use more of these tools (while making sure the focus doesn’t become the tools but the content) to cover the same ideas. This environment allows the student to focus on one specific topic or idea for longer. The learner has more opportunities overtime to reinforce the transfer of knowledge, thus increasing the retention of information through spaced learning and repetition. It gives more time to think about the information, but at the same time it can be a challenge to keep the students involved and invested (consider the ARCs Model for Motivation to assist you with this challenge). Finally, you must design the course with the understanding that new content (but not necessarily a new topic) is needed each week to keep students engaged throughout the semester.
Accelerated Timeline Delivered Online
The other option for many higher education courses and degrees now is for the content to be delivered within an accelerated format. Lee and Horsfall summarized the common benefits as “Students reported overall positive experiences in the accelerated courses, particularly in the social aspects of learning, higher than usual motivation, and confidence in their learning. However, both faculty and students raised concerns about the scope and timing of assessment tasks, student workload expectations, faculty workload, and administration of courses.”
Those benefits can be great selling features for learners. Many individuals who explore continuing education often do not fit the mold of a traditional college student—and other life obligations may make it hard for education to be the primary focus of their life. Fewer classes at once completed faster makes for learning that can be just as effective as the traditional timeline with more freedom for the student. This model can also let the student focus solely on the specific course and fully immerse themselves in one subject rather than taking several classes at once.
When designing for the accelerated model, we need to make sure to focus on helping students learn the content and provide opportunities to engage in the material just as well as the traditional timeline but faster. Because of this, extra projects or activities can end up taking the focus away from the course objectives. We need to provide only the necessary content. Too many new tools or ways to explore the information can end up being unnecessary for understanding and therefore lead to overwhelming the student. Retention comes from the quality and accessibility of the content and tools being used rather than through repetition. One of the goals in design needs to be reducing the cognitive load found in learning new tools or changing assessment types too frequently, which could make the student unable to focus on content but instead the technical components of learning the new tool or assessment type.
With all of that in mind, the accelerated timeline can still provide an engaging space; the emphasis should be having shorter but just as meaningful avenues of engagement for the students. This can look like instructor videos of main topics; discussion boards with shorter timelines; and key projects which tie into each other to create a larger portfolio at the end of the course. Make the material build onto itself to make it more meaningful for the student. This type of design isn’t exclusive to the accelerated timeline, but what differentiates it is the amount of time and detail allocated to each item. Also, asynchronous activities and deadlines provide flexibility for the learner. We need to allow the students to express their learning in a meaningful way—and make sure to provide the needed materials fast enough in advance while being cognizant of helping them move through the materials at a faster pace.
Choose a timeframe—and design accordingly
Course length is just another component that plays a part in how we design. Overall, both timelines include merit for students. “Accelerated instructions are not necessarily superior or inferior to traditional 16-week instructions. Research should focus on what is crucial and how to prepare students to succeed in accelerated online courses.” (Yen et al., 2021, p. 3). With that in mind, if we take the time to look at the components of our course including the timeline, we can then integrate the appropriate learning tools, theories, and models into our curriculum. For example, when working in the accelerated model, you may want to be a bit more diligent in focalizing on key concepts and finding new ways to discuss them within the components of the learning management system (LMS) (and maybe only one external tool at a time). That way your students will not get bogged down trying to learn the new tools instead of being able to focus on the instructional content in the shorter time frame. On the flip side, if teaching in a traditional timeline, you may have the ability to elaborate on a topic using several tools, because the student can focus on the content while still having more time to explore the tool and how it integrates with the curriculum. Yet even with additional time, the tools should always play a secondary role to the instructional content and learning objectives.
Another thing we need to keep in mind is don’t play favorites! When it comes to course design, the content may be the same as it was before but the way we present it can be flexible. A key component to remember is that if we have a favorite type of model (which I can attest to having as well), it is easy to try to make several types of content fit into that comfortable mode, rather than asking the important questions of what will work best for the course and how do I optimize the timeline with appropriate tools and assessment strategies. All forms of modality and timelines can work, we just may need to change strategies employed to achieve the desired outcome. As instructors and course designers, we need to remain flexible no matter the constraints—you just might have to think about it the pedagogy implementation a little differently every time.
All components of a course come into play during design—the content, the tools used, the LMS, the learners you will be designing for, the length of the course, etc.. Design is an interlocking system, and we need to make sure we are aware of all the options and remain diligent about choosing the appropriate learning tools and experiences for the course based within the timeline and other modality regulations given.
References
Palmer, J. & Gallagher, S. (2020, September 29). The pandemic pushed universities online. The change was long overdue. Harvard Business Review.
Lee, N. & Horsfall, B. (2010, February 24). Accelerated learning: A study of faculty and student experiences. Innovative Higher Education (35), 191-202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-010-9141-0
Yen, C. J., Ozkeskin, E. E., Tankari, M., Tu, C. H., Harati, H., & Sujo-Montes, L. E. (2021). Online
accelerated learning experiences and self-regulated learning skills among undergraduate students. International Journal of Online Pedagogy and Course Design, 11(3), 17-35. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/IJOPCD.2021070102
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