Course Development Guide

• Step 1: Preparing to Go Online
• Step 2: Learning Sakai
• Step 3: Configuring a New Sakai Course
• Step 4: Configuring a WWW Course Home Page (optional)
• Step 5: Your Sakai Course Content
• Step 6: Style and Design Guidelines for Seminole State's Sakai Courses
• Step 7: Making Your Course Available
• Step 8: Course Population (student login IDs and passwords)
• Step 9: Ongoing Course Development and Troubleshooting

Step 1: Preparing to Go Online

Contact the Distance Learning Department if you are interested in developing an online or media-enhanced course, or adding an Sakai component, such as Sakai e-mail, chat rooms, or bulletin boards, to one or more of your on-campus courses.

You should familiarize yourself with the published electronically by the Southern Regional Electronic Campus and developed by the. All online courses at Seminole State should follow these guidelines.

The Seminole State Distance Learning Advisory Committee has developed the following documents, which are to be used by departments and course designers to assist in the development of new online courses. These documents have been created in cooperation with several of our faculty members who have experience in developing and conducting online courses and in conjunction with SACS guidelines for online course development and delivery. Both documents are available in printable .pdf format.

• Distance Learning Course Development Peer Review Form

The Distance Learning Department is located in room V-103, building L, on the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus. For more information, e-mail the Distance Learning Department or call 407.708.2424.

Step 2: Learning Sakai

We recommend that you sign up for a Sakai Training Workshop to become familiar with the software. All faculty members who use Sakai should first complete the Sakai Training Workshop and earn a certificate of completion before they run classes in Sakai.

• The training workshops will be announced periodically via e-mail and Internet bulletin board.
• Speak with a member of the distance learning staff for class availability, times and locations or review the online Distance Learning Workshop Schedule for periodical workshop updates.

Step 3: Configuring a New Sakai Course

The Distance Learning Department must create a training site, developer ID and password for you before you can access Sakai for training purposes. If you have signed up for an Sakai workshop, a training account will be automatically created for you to be used during the workshop sessions.

• Request a new development course via our online Sakai request forms.

Step 4: Configuring a WWW Course Home Page (optional)

If you wish to create a separate home page, which is to be accessible to the Internet, you can request an individual faculty sub-Web on the Seminole State server. We recommend that you do not request a sub-Web unless you have a large amount of information that you want to make available on the Web.

If you only have one online course and you want your syllabus, contact information, course description, etc. available on the Internet outside of the password-protected Sakai environment, these pages can be posted on your departmental website.
If you decide that you do need a separate sub-Web, you must complete a Computing and Telecommunication Systems (CTS) Request Form to have one created for you. You can obtain these forms online or at the CTS desk or the mail room.
If you are unsure whether you need a sub-Web, e-mail the Distance Learning Department or call 407.708.2424 for more information.

All course home pages must conform to good online design criteria. Refer to the Seminole State Web Page Design Guidelines for tips on creating effective pages.

Step 5: Your Sakai Course Content

Once you have established an Sakai training or development site, you can begin to experiment with the course design features that are included in Sakai. You may customize your course to fit your needs and the needs of your students; the content is completely up to you.

You may choose to create your course by using existing classroom lecture notes, handouts, PowerPoint presentations, and quizzes, as a starting point. Course companion websites and CD-ROMs, which are available for many textbooks, can be effectively integrated into an Sakai course as well. You might also want to investigate licensing pre-developed course content packages. Several publishers now have pre-developed course content that has been optimized for use with Sakai and other online learning applications. Call 407.708.2424 or e-mail the Distance Learning Department or for assistance in searching for existing textbooks and course e-packs.

If you have questions on how to locate such materials for use in your online courses, e-mail the Distance Learning Department or call 407.708.2424, and we will research the subject for you and put you in touch with the appropriate contact personnel.

Remember, planning ahead is essential! There are time and cost factors in online course licensing and development that must be considered in preparing any new class for student use.

Step 6: Style and Design Guidelines for Seminole State Sakai Courses

While course content is the instructor's responsibility, we do ask that you abide by the following guidelines when it comes to the style and look of your Sakai site.

• Seminole State Sakai Color Templates: There are several Sakai color templates to choose from. If you would like us to apply one of these templates to your course as the default color scheme, e-mail the Distance Learning Department or call 407.708.2424.

If you need assistance with custom icons or templates, color choices or graphics creation, e-mail the Distance Learning Department or call 407.708.2424, and we will develop and/or supply graphics for you.

• Collegewide Publication Standards: Seminole State seeks to present a professional and unified image to the student population, and collegewide publication standards have been developed in aligning with this goal. Online courses are, in essence, Seminole State publications, they represent the College to a global audience and they are subject to the same conventions as any institutional textbook, journal or other publication. Before developing your online course material, refer to Seminole State's Web Design Guidelines for tips on creating effective Web content. You should also refer to copyright information sources, such as the University of Texas System's Crash Course in Copyright or the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress for help with copyright issues.

The Distance Learning Department is the clearinghouse for all online courses at Seminole State. Our staff periodically reviews each Sakai course site to evaluate its functionality and ensure that collegewide standards are being met. At that time, design changes may be suggested if needed.

• Developer IDs and Passwords: Your Sakai developer ID and password are issued to you when you attend an Sakai Training Workshop or enroll in a class or group using Sakai.
• Graphics: A customized background, navigation, and text color scheme is provided for you in each new course that is created. As mentioned above, you may change these settings to an alternate Seminole State design. If you would like additional icons, banners, or backgrounds, e-mail the Distance Learning Department or call 407.708.2424, and we will develop and/or supply graphics for you.
• Icons: Sakai offers a default selection of icons. You may modify these icons, but if you do, use good design principles and avoid using overly large or visually busy images. If you need help locating custom icons, e-mail the Distance Learning Department or call 407.708.2424, and we can create icons for you that are consistent with your Web page's style and subject matter.
• HTML Content Pages: Ensure that all HTML content pages adhere to good Web design standards. Refer to the Seminole State Web Design Guidelines for more information.

Step 7: Making Your Course Available

Once your course content is fully developed and ready to run during a given term, alert the Distance Learning Department by filling out an Sakai Production Site Request.

Step 8: Course Population (student login IDs and passwords)

Sakai course population refers to the uploading of student data to create student accounts within an Sakai course. Each student account is accessed using a unique login ID and password. The Distance Learning Department will update the Sakai global database with student information on a daily basis throughout the add/drop period each term. All Sakai courses will be auto-populated with student enrollment information at the beginning of the term; however, faculty members are responsible for disabling student accounts for any dropped, no-show or withdrawn students within their courses. Instructors are unable to modify student passwords. If a student has difficulty with his or her password, refer the student to the Distance Learning Department.

Step 9: Ongoing Course Development and Troubleshooting

We are here to help. E-mail the Distance Learning Department or call 407.708.2424 if you have any questions, problems, suggestions, or concerns that you might have regarding online learning at Seminole State.

For example, if you are considering adding PowerPoint presentations to your Sakai course, there are several ways to do this, and we can help you decide which method works best for your needs. Additionally, there are several ways to make files available for students to download from Sakai, and we can help you decide which way works best in your case.

We can also help with troubleshooting if you run into user problems. The Distance Learning Department is not limited to Sakai support; we are also available to assist you with all other distance learning media and delivery options.

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