The Analysis phase of the instructional design process includes the following steps:

Throughout the analysis phase, you can more closely examine if and how Blackboard can help you meet your instructional goals and objectives.

For educators, goals and objectives are essential tools for course planning - they help you stay on track as you teach the course.

For students, clear goals and objectives assure that your course meets their educational goals.

Instructional goals are broad, long-term, generalized statements about what is to be learned.

Instructional objectives are specific, measurable, short-term, observable student behaviors. Objectives are the foundation upon which lessons are built. Well-defined objectives are key in the development of valid assessments.

A complete objective is a statement that contains the following four elements: (also known as the ABCDs of objectives)

1. Audience (who is the learner?)
2. Behavior (what will the learner be doing? what performance will you be gauging?)
3. Condition (what resources can the learner use? given what?)
4. Degree (what are the criteria? how well do they need to perform?)

Here is an example of an objective for this workshop & document:
After an analysis of their course materials, participants in the Blackboard workshop, "Planning and Designing Your Course", will prepare an organizational scheme for their Blackboard course site that meets their instructional goals and objectives.

Here is an example of an objective that also addresses how Blackboard will be used:
Students will collaborate in project groups using Blackboard's Groups tool to design and develop a WebQuest appropriate for middle-school students according to criteria in the WebQuest evaluation rubric.

For further guidance in defining your course objectives, view the Eberly Center seminar handout Developing Clear Statements of Course Objectives.

Gather information about your students so that you can adapt your instruction to meet your students' needs. Ask questions about their:

• backgrounds
• learning styles
• access to and comfort with technology

Specific issues you might want to address:

What kinds of backgrounds do your students have? For example, students with design backgrounds have a tendency to be visual learners, so including graphics in your course materials might help address their learning needs.

Is this a required course? If so, will motivation be a factor for some students? How will you keep those students engaged?

Will students be taking your course from a distance? If so, will time zone differences impact your instruction in any way?

Will students have access to the hardware/software/connectivity required to access your course materials?

Have students used Blackboard before? Do they currently have other courses on Blackboard?

The Eberly Center checklist Questions to Ask Students on an Information Sheet can help you gain valuable insights about what interests them and what styles of classroom interaction they may prefer.

You can create and deliver an online survey using Blackboard's Assessment Manager to gather this information from students. Offering your students information on how you plan to use
the information you are gathering might provide more useful results.

Use current student complaints to identify potential for implementing Blackboard and other forms of technology - view this chart for ideas. (this link will open a new browser window)

 

What is working well? What could be improved? How can your instruction be enhanced - made more efficient and effective - with Blackboard?

Integrating Blackboard is a reference chart that can help you start thinking about ways in which you might want to augment your course. (this link will open a new browser window)

 

Conduct an inventory of your existing course materials and examine:

What materials do you have or need to develop to meet these objectives? syllabus handouts presentations lecture notes exams, quizzes examples of exemplary student work

How many items are currently in electronic format? Which formats?

Which items lend themselves to online delivery?

Do you currently have a course web site?

Do you need to update outdated materials? Do you need to create new materials?

Will it be more effective and efficient to deliver your course material online using Blackboard?

Making the decision to use Blackboard doesn't mean that you have to put all your course materials online. For some materials, it just might make sense to continue delivering them in the medium or format that you have been in the past.