Suggested Distance Course Development Proposal

Ball State University

This distance education course proposal format can be adopted at the unit or college level to assist program directors, chairs, and deans in their recommendations of course development stipends to the Distance Education Review Committee. It can also provide guidance for faculty seeking to revise distance learning courses based on best practices in the field. It is hoped that this initial planning will lead to improved learning and more efficient use of faculty time.

Proposed Distance Course Development / Revision (circle one)

1. Heading Material (Course, Developer, Semester to be Implemented)

2. Rationale

Faculty are expected to develop new courses, and to revise and update all of their courses, as needed. Please provide a rationale that justifies the need for additional funds based on additional work that will be required.

3. Development Plan (Choose either A or B, below)

A. Initial Distance Implementation

Please review the Recommended Guidelines for Distance Education Course Development, then describe your development plan, addressing any of the following questions that are applicable.

Questions to help you plan or revise a distance course:
  • How will you use technology to improve the delivery of instruction and learning activities at a distance (i.e., overcome barriers to learning from a distance)?
  • How will you engage students in active and/or applied learning?
  • How will you encourage interaction and/or collaboration among students?
  • How will you address the varying learning needs and/or preferences of individual students?
  • How will you assess student learning in order to give both teacher and students ongoing feedback about their progress?
  • How will you solicit and integrate student feedback—both formative and summative—for the ongoing improvement of the course?
  • How will you provide prompt feedback to students in response to assignments and/or questions?
  • What types of instructional design or technical support will you require to develop your plans?

B. Course Revision

Please review the questions listed above as well as the Recommended Guidelines for Distance Education Course Development, then describe your development plan, addressing any of the following questions that are applicable. This process is designed to support you in improving the distance learning aspects of your course, beyond standard content revisions that are a normal part of course preparation.

Questions to help you revise a distance course:
  • What elements of your distance learning course are you proposing to revise, or what new elements are you proposing to add?
  • Why do you feel those revisions are necessary (student evaluations, peer review, observation of student activity, etc.)?
  • How do you plan to assess the effectiveness of the new activities, materials, or approaches?
  • What types of instructional design or technical support will you require to develop your plans?

4. Development Timeline

5. Evaluation (Note the method of reporting back on the work accomplished.)

This proposal process was suggested by the Faculty Input Group for Ball State University's School of Extended Education, November, 2004, and can be found at web.bsu.edu/iandt/official/rfp.htm.