Designing Effective Online Instruction

Designing online courses requires a radical change in the way instruction is presented to students. However, there are no research-based models using a systems approach available for designing Web-based instruction. This book introduces the ASSIST-Me Model to fulfill this need. ASSIST-Me, based on a recent Delphi study, offers an instructional design procedure specifically intended for online courses. Data obtained from professional instructional designers were synthesized into a model that contains essential elements to the design process, and Koontz, Li, and Compora present a step-by-step procedure to effectively create online instruction. The ASSIST-ME Model:

·Allows maximum flexibility when creating effective instruction, permitting the instructor to develop materials in order of preference;
·Eliminates the trial-and-error approach;
·Reduces the amount of design time once the model has been used;
·Increases student learning in a reasonable time.

This book should be used by faculty who teach instructional design courses, professional instructional designers, and teacher faculty who design instruction for online courses.

Franklin R. Koontz has been engaged in distance learning for 36 years, first as an instructional television producer and director and then as a professor of educational technology. He has conducted studies concerning distance learning and given national presentations on the subject. Koontz is professor emeritus of educational technology at the University of Toledo in Ohio.

Hongqin Li is an assistant professor of educational technology, at the School of Graduate and Professional Studies, at Lourdes College, Sylvania, Ohio.

Daniel Compora is an English professor at the University of Toledo, Ohio, who has worked extensively in computer-based environments and has published research in distance learning.