Alignment. When you’re creating an activity, it is important to ask yourself, “How does this activity align with the learning goals and graded assessments? What is the purpose and what does it accomplish?” Be intentional about your selection and try to remove activities that don’t have a clear purpose in order to focus student attention where it is most impactful. It is also helpful to be explicit in explaining to students what the purpose of each activity and assignment is to help students make connections between activities and learning goals.
Simplicity. While integrating a range of learning activities is important to facilitate student learning in online courses, it is also important to be mindful of student time and attention and avoid overloading them with too many activities.
Provide a range of interactions. Use a variety of large group, small group and individual learning experiences. Also consider both synchronous and asynchronous modalities when planning interactions.
Balance technology and need. In design of your course activities, balance the needs and benefits of online communication and collaboration with the additional effort it will require on everyone’s part. Learning new technologies and procedures might be counterproductive, particularly in the short term, unless there is clear benefit.
Scaffold large projects. Break down large projects into stages and provide opportunities for feedback along the way. This helps students stay on track by breaking down projects into more manageable pieces and providing checkpoints. The staged deliverables can provide an opportunity for peer feedback or other types of activities around them.
Create space for students to share. You don’t always need to be the sole presenter of content. One of the main strengths of online classrooms is that it provides a range of opportunities for students to create and share with each other. Even simple activities such as having students create and share memes to illustrate course concepts or pictures that illustrate connections to place or experiences can be a fantastic way to engage students and build community.
Encourage reflection. While interactions with others are beneficial in online courses, creating opportunities for individual reflection (journals, exam/project wrappers, etc.) is also an important part of the learning process.