Moving lesson content online

Lesson planning for online delivery

A lesson plan is a description of the sequence of activities engaged in by both the faculty and the learners in order to achieve the desired objectives together with a schedule for the lesson and a list of instructional resources. As the faculty it is important to consider the three basic elements when planning a lesson; the introduction (bridge-in, objectives, pre-assessment) the body (participatory learning) and the conclusion (post-assessment and summary).

When planning to move content from in class to online the biggest paradigm shift is moving from thinking, “how do I teach this?” to “how do they learn this?”. In order to maximize the remaining in-class time together, some of the content can be moved online, with the expectation that students come to class having read through or watched the preparatory material prior to the in-class time.

Course content can be moved from face-to-face delivery to an online platform using our Blackboard Learning Management System.  It is recommended to create a folder within the Weekly Learning section for each class that will be moved online. Within this folder, create an introduction, learning objectives, content, learning activities and summary. To learn how to create folders within Blackboard, please have a look at the Blackboard tipsheets in the additional resources section below.

• Bridge – Introduction: Briefly outline what the students will be doing this week and introduce the topic. If you have any videos you would show in class about this topic to grab attention you can include them here.
• Objectives – Learning objectives: Include the measurable outcomes for the week. It can also be helpful to include a to-do list.
• Pre-assessment: You can include a short Blackboard quiz for students to gauge their own knowledge or ask a thinking question.
• Participatory learning – Content and learning activities: It is important to include a variety of presentation mediums and formats such as screencasts, PowerPoint, articles, textbook readings, websites, multimedia and other interactive elements.
• Learning activities: If you are using any of the Blackboard activities such as blogs, wikis, journals and discussions, it is recommended that they are available the folder for the week in question so that all the materials are available in one spot. Other activities can include publisher labs, assignments, and interactive elements
• Post-assessment: Quizzes and other assessments
• Summary: Items such as completion checklist, next steps, what needs to complete prior to next in class session can be included in this section.

Below you will find examples of how some lesson content can be moved online. Please note, this is not an exhaustive list. Our job, as your support team, is to help you make the course you want; these are just a few examples to get you started.

Lesson planning templates