Providing academic support to faculties that offer fully online programmes is crucial to our efforts at COES.

The COES Online Education team is focused on giving faculties all the resources and support they need for online facilitation. This ensures that academics are ready to offer high-quality, engaging online programmes. Our support spans various activities and stages of programme creation and teaching, all aimed at enhancing the learning experience for lecturers and students.

Curriculum design and development

The Online Education team offers extensive support, from the initial stages of needs analysis and educational goal-setting to the detailed mapping of programme outcomes and assessment criteria. COES Learning Designers lend expertise in aligning curriculum design with South African higher education regulations, including DHET, CHE, and SAQA policies. This foundational support is augmented with practical resources such as templates, examples, and educational videos to guide faculties through each step of curriculum development.

Instructional design and module building

The building blocks of effective online learning are crafted with the assistance of learning designers and interns, who provide instructional design support within the learning management system. The support includes the creation of course shells, the design of engaging banners, content insertion, activity summarisation, and the development of accessible transcripts. Furthermore, the team focuses on producing multimedia resources like videos and infographics, constructing assessments and rubrics, and enhancing module accessibility. Advice on the best educational tools is also provided, ensuring that each module is informative and engaging.

Quality assurance and feedback

A significant aspect of the support provided is the rigorous review process conducted by the learning designers. All curriculum documents and instructional designs undergo quality assurance checks to ensure alignment with pedagogical best practices, authenticity of assessments, and compliance with accreditation standards. Constructive feedback is offered at this stage to make things easier and enhance the curriculum components.

Facilitation and professional development

Beyond design and development, Learning Designers assist faculties during the facilitation phase, ensuring the correct setup of module settings and addressing complex queries. The Online Education team organises regular professional development sessions for faculties to complement these support structures. These sessions cover various topics, including notional-hour calculations, continuous-assessment strategies, new-technology integration, online-facilitation techniques, and adequate feedback provision.