The five levels of on-line course development

Includes such elements as a syllabus, assignment descriptions and technology requirements. These site are a place where faculty can provide basic course information and house their materials, handouts and presentations. Nothing on the site, however, directly influences the student’s grade.

Integrated sites may provide more opportunities for student interaction. They are places where students may post and retrieve documents and assignments. The site is not the primary method of distribution, however. These sites may include materials beyond what is available in the classroom and provide additional opportunities for learning. For example, an integrated site might include an on-line quiz where students can check their knowledge.

A hybrid course takes the instructional components that occur on the Web a step further. Hybrid Courses are sequenced materials upon which a substantial portion of the student’s learning relies. Dependency on the Web for instruction increases with a hybrid course. This site should be integrated into the instructional design of the class. Here, some instructional components of the course are dependent on the course site and its use is part of the course requirements. The level of instructional re-design of the course increases substantially with a hybrid course.
The instructional components of a hybrid course site influence the student's grade and often includes reduced seat time.

Fully on-line courses provide all or nearly all of the learning opportunities on the Web. Full web-based courses generally do not require seat time except for orientation or special class and small-group meetings.

Degree Programs are groups of fully on-line courses that compose a block of a program’s curriculum or the entire program that result in the student’s being awarded a degree.