Course Layout

We created a themed course to model visual teaching and learning. We wanted students to be able to make mental maps of the course design and visualize the course metaphorically rather than as a document repository. We modified a Blackboard Teaching Style Structure (“Expedition-Based”) and created an expedition theme. The course began on the announcements page while a left-hand side menu provided course navigation. The menu items reflected the expedition theme and required students to explore and learn the course layout as we did not use the typical vocabulary for the course links. After Announcements, the menu was divided into four sections. The first section contained informational content that students might require at-a-glance. We provided a navigation overview, the syllabus, and an overview of due dates and points. The next section contained the course content areas, after that came resources and instructor contact information, and finally the course tools.  All HTML pages in the course site were provided as PDF downloads for students, and all pages were compatible with most mobile devices.   The image gallery below highlights some features of the course layout.