On-Line Short Course Design Document

7/29/2019 On-Line Short Course Design Document

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Short Course Design 1

Running head: Short Course Design Document

Short Course Design Document

Darren Dennstedt

University of Colorado at Denver

INTE 5200 Designing and Organizing an Online Course


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Short Course Design Document

Overview

Students come to school with basic conceptual models of how electricity works. Many of

these models are flawed with misconceptions. Misconceptions in science can remain with a

student into adulthood if not addressed and corrected. As a result, clear learning objectives about

simple circuits were developed at the onset of the design of the online course.

The learning objectives developed for the online course took into consideration the current

state science standards.

Standard 1: Physical Science

Students will understand energy comes in many forms such as light, heat, sound, magnetic,

chemical, and electric.

1b. Show that electricity in circuits requires a complete loop through which current

can pass.

1c. Describe the energy transformation that takes place in electrical circuits where

light, heat, sound, and magnetic effects are produced.

The desired learning outcomes for students include the following:

1. Students will understand a circuit is a pathway through which electric current flows.2. Students will understand energy transfers between electric sources and receivers.3. Students will identify the essential components of an electric circuit and understand

the functions.

4. Students will identify materials that are conductors and insulators.


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As students progress toward understanding of the learning outcomes several essential

questions will be considered.

1. How do we know that energy exists within a system such as in an electrical circuit?2. How can you get electricity from a source to a receiver?3. How does electricity flow through a circuit?4. Can an object complete a circuit?

The intended audience is a group of fourth grade students in a public school classroom at

Timberline Elementary School. Enrollment of students is currently at 620 students: 76% White,

8% Black, 8% Hispanic, and 7% Asian/Pacific Islander. In 2012, Timberline Elementary School

had 15% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch programs.

The target audience consists of 28 students with the percentage of male and female students

being almost identical: 52% male and 48% female. Five students are on an IEP (Individual

Education Plan) and three have a 504 plan. A 504 plan is an individual plan developed for

students with special health care needs making accommodations to allow for full participation in

school.

Understanding the student demographics was instrumental in the design process of the

online course. Creating an online blended course that combines traditional face-to-face

interactions with online computer activities seemed the logical choice when targeting the

intended audience. Opportunities to participate in hands-on classroom activities which are

supplemented and reinforced in an online course strengthen student understandings of the

learning outcomes.


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Overall Instructional Design Decision

The design of the short course is directly connected to the fourth grade science curriculum

taught at Cherry Creek Schools. The course is broken into a three week module that supports

concepts taught in class for an electricity and magnetism unit. Often students have difficulty

conceptualizing abstract concepts taught in a face-to-face meeting and need additional support

and reinforcement of content. Building an online course that supports various learner needs that

reviews concepts taught was the intended outcome of the course design.

Elementary school students typically need to practice skills numerous times in order to gain

mastery. Research suggests science concepts are best taught starting with inquiry questions or

stating a problem, developing a plan, conducting an investigation, analyzing the data, and then

being exposed to the content to reinforce the concept. Therefore, the design of the online course

is structured around completion of hands-on science concepts in class and having content

available online to reinforce concepts learned in class. A blended approach with teacher to

student face-to-face contact, with a major portion of content delivered online, was the model

utilized.

Organization of the short course encompassed dividing the three main learning objectives

into one week modules. Each learning target is a week-long lesson that builds from the previous

week with the learner as the center of the teaching and learning process (Boettcher & Conrad,

2010, Kindle Location 723). The rationale for this design is rooted in the idea that elementary

students need time and repeated opportunities to practice skills and synthesize concepts.


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Four Stages of a Course

According to Boettcher (2010), an online course can progress through four stages. Each

stage has common themes which include learner responsibilities and behavior; faculty

responsibilities and behavior, including the content of the three presences: social, teaching, and

cognitive; how content knowledge and resources interact with a learners readiness; and the

potential tools for the environment (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, Kindle Locations 506-509).

Figure 1

Stage 1:

Course

Beginnings

Stage 2:

Early

Middle

Stage 3:

Late

Middle

Stage 4:

Closing

Weeks


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Course Stages

Stage 1: Course Beginning

The first phase of an online course focuses on establishing a social community and getting

to know the learners. Introduction of learner backgrounds and an assessment of learner readiness

occur during this stage. The development of online resources and the tools for the designed

learning experiences are in place (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, Kindle Locations 526-527), at the

beginning of the course. When taking into consideration the course developed for the ILT

program was a blended course, most of the first phase has already been established in face-to-

face meetings. Getting to know the learners and establishing relationships has occurred in the

classroom setting and was not embedded into the course shell. Moreover, due to the targeted

audience age range, modeling of the tools and course site navigation will occur prior to learners

progressing through the course. Although course goals have been purposefully integrated into the

shell of the course, review of course expectations and objectives will occur simultaneously with

face-to-face classroom instruction.

Furthermore, a pre-assessment of student readiness is embedded at the beginning of the

developed course. Learners are asked to provide information regarding their background

knowledge of electricity and how it affects their daily lives. A scavenger hunt and course

timeline have been included asking students to locate goals and expectations for each lesson to

help ensure students understand the expectations of the course.


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Stage 2: Early Middle

The early middle of an online course consists of learners working through the course shell

exploring the content, and interacting with the resources. Building a community and interacting

with small teams continues to be fostered. The intention of the course design is to immediately

engage students in the concepts of electricity and magnetism to generate excitement. Engaging

learners at the onset and early middle of the course is an important goal. Creating activities that

will engage and challenge learners while expanding their personal connections to their existing

knowledge (Conrad & Donaldson, 2004, pg. 23) occur in the use of simulations, participation in

formative assessments, and access to additional resources, and content review. Participants are

also expected to answer several challenging inquiry based questions that are directly connected

back to the main learning targets. Evidence of learner thinking is documented throughout the

first lesson including students making a quick video to support their thinking on how to make a

light bulb light with an energy receiver. As the course unfolds, concepts are further explored

with the foundation built in the first lesson.

Stage 3: Late Middle

In the late middle stage of the online course learners are continuing to focus on the content

and explore how to build circuits. After exploring basic ideas of how to light a bulb using an

energy receiver, now students start to integrate a switch and motor. The learning objective is to

understand the difference between a closed and open switch and how electricity flows through a

circuit. Students are now familiar with the basic concepts being explored and will participate in

building schematic diagrams of a simple circuit. An opportunity to work as a community occurs

when learners develop a peer rubric with guidance from the instructor. The peer rubric will be


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used to assess individual schematic diagrams created. Opportunities to make corrections to the

schematic diagrams will ensue based on the peer feedback. At this stage in the course, the role as

a teacher has shifted to the role of facilitator in the online arena allowing me to help individual

students who may be struggling with the content and projects.

Stage 4: Closing Weeks

Stage 4 of an online course focuses on synthesizing the course learning objectives and

activities are concluded. The facilitator continues to support learners projects and the course

community (Boettcher, & Conrad, 2010, Kindle Location 562). The course designed for the ILT

class is a small part of a larger unit being taught on electricity and magnetism, and therefore, is

absent of many characteristics that Boettcher describes as the closing elements of an online

course. However, each one week module built for the three week course ends with an

opportunity for students to reflect and synthesize their learning. The concepts are reviewed using

an age appropriate vocabulary game and short formative and or summative assessments for each

lesson. Additional work on electricity and magnetism will occur in face-to-face interactions in

the classroom culminating with a final summative assessment with completion of the entire unit.

Ten Core Learning Principles

Boettcher (2010) describes ten core learning principles that need to be considered when

designing and managing an online course. These principles are intended to help guide the

delivery of an online course while taking into consideration the learner and facilitator

experiences. Understanding how learners construct meaning and interact with content can


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increase the successful delivery of an online course. The following table breaks down each of the

ten principles.

Table 1 Ten Core Learning Principles

Principle 1 Every structured learning experience has four

elements with the learner at the center.

Principle 2 Learners bring their own personalized and

customized knowledge, skills, and attitudes to the

experience.

Principle 3 Faculty mentors are the directors of the learning

experience.

Principle 4 All learners do not need to learn all course content;

all learners do need to learn the core concepts.

Principle 5 Every learning experience includes the

environment or context in which the learner

interacts.

Principle 6 Every learner has a zone of proximal development

that defines the space that a learner is ready to

develop into useful knowledge.

Principle 7 Concepts are not words but organized and

interconnected knowledge clusters.

Principle 8 Different instruction is required for different

learning outcomes.

Principle 9 Everything else being equal, more time on task

equals more learning.


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Principle 10 We shape our tools, and our tools shape us.

Principle 1:Every structured learning experience has four elements with the learner at the

center.

In principle 1 the focus is on the learner and the learning experience. To help guide the

learner through the content, a clear set of expectations along with learning outcomes is provided

at the onset of each lesson. As the learner progresses through the content, a list of activities to

complete is clearly outlined under the learning objectives and a timeline is provided to help

learners understand what they will need to accomplish. Several projects are customizable

allowing for differentiation of learning. For example, students will have the opportunity to create

a YouTube video demonstrating their understanding of a simple circuit. Participation in several

simulations and short projects allow learners to test ideas learned in class while synthesizing core

concepts and acquiring necessary skills to progress through the unit of study. As the facilitator, a

review of what to accomplish on a daily basis for the learner will occur in a synchronous setting

or classroom.

Principle 2:Learners bring their own personalized and customized knowledge, skills, and

attitudes to the experience.

Principle 2 targets learner readiness or what knowledge and experiences learners bring to

the course. A quick pre-assessment is embedded at the onset of the course asking participants to

respond to several questions assessing their background knowledge regarding electricity. The

embedded Google Form poses a variety of questions to help tease out science misconceptions

learners may have at the onset of the course. The information can then be used to design


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experiences to ensure an accurate knowledge structure (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, Kindle

Location 793) or build on what students already know. Knowing what learners bring to the

course can allow me as the facilitator to differentiate the course during synchronous meetings

and through discussion posts in the LMS.

Principle 4:All learners do not need to learn all course content; all learners do need to learn

the core concepts.

Principle 4 suggests that learners need not learn all the content, but have an understanding

of the core concepts. The instructional design of the course on magnetism and electricity takes

into consideration this principle as each weekly lesson is an extension of the previous week.

Scaffolding occurs between each of the three lessons allowing students to make connections and

synthesize understanding. Participants have several embedded opportunities to build circuits that

range from a simple circuit to a complex circuit that has a switch. As learners develop expertise

in the content experiences, they increasingly direct and customize their learning according to

their needs (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, Kindle Location 845). For example, students can

practice making several different circuits in the embedded simulations allowing for further

exploration of inquiry based questions.

Principle 8:Different instruction is required for different learning outcomes.

Principle 8 highlights the need to differentiate instruction and states different instruction is

required for different learning outcomes (Boettcher &Conrad, 2010, Kindle Location 944). In

other words, its important to offer a variety of opportunities for learners to gain knowledge and

the skills necessary to be successful in a course. Using backwards design insures the instructional

experiences are designed to develop competency for learners and connect back to the learning

objectives. With that said a focus on what objectives learners were to accomplish was developed


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along with assessments prior to developing individual activities embedded into the course. These

teaching and learning events have been created to support the learning goals. For example,

having cooperative group work, synchronous activities, asynchronous activities, and face-to-face

sessions will provide differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all learners.

Additionally, differentiation for learners will occur as students are able to make revisions to

assignments based on feedback from peers. Moreover, learners will be grouped based on ability,

meaning low students will be paired up with high students during synchronous classroom

activities. Lastly, some choice will be available for various projects like creating a video of a

simple circuit allowing students an opportunity to showcase their knowledge.

Principle 9:Everything else being equal, more time on task equals more learning.

Principle 9 suggests the need to allow more time-on-task, as students spend more time

interacting with, creating, and manipulating information and applying concepts and skills, the

more facile, accomplished, and confident they will be (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, Kindle

Locations 955-956). The blended learning environment designed allows learners numerous

chances for interacting with basic circuit concepts and with peers in a synchronous setting and

online asynchronously. Participation in discussions and requiring learners to respond to other

learners will develop collaborative skills making a real world connection. Embedded simulations

and assigned short projects can help to effectively measure individual performance and engage

the learner helping create a diverse experience.

Learners are expected to reflect on concepts frequently throughout each lesson in short

formative and summative assessments. As each lesson unfolds, learners review concepts taught

in the previous lesson reinforcing the understanding of concepts and increasing time spent on

core content.


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Ten Best Practices for Beginning Online Teaching

According to Boettcher (2010), to create an effective and efficient (Kindle Locations

1023-1024) online experience for participants she recommends following ten best practices to

increase the success of the learning experience for both participants and the facilitator.

Table 2 Ten Best Practices for Beginning Online Teaching

Best practice 1 Be present at the course site.

Best practice 2 Create a supportive online course community.

Best practice 3 Develop a set of explicit expectations for your

learners and yourself as to how you will

communicate and how much time students

should be working on the course each week.

Best practice 4 Use a variety of large group, small group, and

individual work experiences.

Best practice 5 Use synchronous and asynchronous activities.

Best practice 6 Ask for informal feedback early in the term.

Best practice 7 Prepare discussion posts that invite responses,

questions, discussions, and reflections.

Best practice 8 Search out and use content resources that are

available in digital format if possible.


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Best practice 9 Combine core concept learning with

customized and personalized learning.

Best practice 10 Plan a good closing and wrap activity for the

course.

Best Practice 1

Best Practice 1 encompasses the idea that the facilitator be available to the learner or

present every day. The practice suggests that learners expect the facilitator of an online course to

be available to answer questions or provide feedback and support at all times of the day or when

the learner is logged in. Since the course developed is a blended course, learners will have

opportunities to build relationships in the face-to-face classroom and continue learning in the

evening after school. However, to ensure learners feel a presence by the facilitator, use of the

LMS discussion post option will be utilized extensively to communicate expectations to learners

and offer learners the ability to process information and ask questions. Additionally, participants

will be able to contact the instructor directly through the LMS and discuss issues or post

questions in the discussion forum. Coupled with the use of the mentioned tools, students will

receive audio and text feedback on assignments completed and questions posed throughout the

course.

Best Practice 2

Creating a community of learners that feel supported is also a vital component of a

successfully conducted online course. Learners need to feel valued and connected to the online

community in order for the experience to be positive. To promote a supportive environment for

the fourth grade learners a discussion forum will be utilized to allow students to gain assistance


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from other learners. Learners will also be divided into cooperative groups in both the face-to-

face and online environment to promote a community of learners.

Best Practice 3

Best practice 3 pinpoints the importance of having clear expectations for learners and the

facilitator on how much time should be devoted to communication and completion of online

course tasks. Clear expectations of the time commitment will occur in face-to-face meetings with

continual modeling of the LMS. In other words, the targeted audience of fourth grade learners

will need to be walked through daily course expectations in the face-to-face environment. A

quick review of daily expectations and assigned tasks will occur in class prior to the students

attempting to complete the tasks at home. Tasks to be completed for the online course are built

on the school homework policy for the targeted audience. Typically, students in fourth grade can

only be assigned 30-40 minutes of outside homework, and as a result the designed course

attempts to adhere to this policy. However, due to the engaging content, learners will most likely

spend more time on tasks exploring content and customizing their own learning.

Best Practice 4

The use of collaborative groups and individual experiences is an important component of

an online course. Embedded opportunities for learners to work through activities in small groups

and as individuals have purposely been included in the developed short course. Creating a

YouTube video showcasing group knowledge of how to design a simple circuit is an example of

how learners will have an opportunity to support each other. Building a peer rubric to assess each

other further strengthens the learning community, while small individual project assessments

have been developed for each lesson. Learners need a variety of opportunities to synthesize

content and problem solve individually and in a group.


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Best Practice 5

The blended course developed incorporates both synchronous and asynchronous activities.

Learners will receive some content and solve inquiry-based problems in the face-to-face

synchronous classroom. Asynchronous activities will occur when learners are completing tasks

that support content in the online course. Limited synchronous opportunities will be available for

learners when they are in the online course environment. Designing a peer rubric using a Google

Document could feasible result in synchronous collaboration by learners depending on pre-

planning in face-to-face meetings and or when learners are logged into the course.

Best Practice 6

Due to the three week developed short course, the creation of surveys asking for learner

feedback was not incorporated in the course. However, as the course unfolds a daily check-in

with learners on what is working, problems developed, and general site navigation will occur in

order to make changes to the course and foster student success. The targeted digital language

learners will need face-to-face time to discuss site and content issues and process their

understandings whole group.

Best Practice 8

Use of content resources that are available in digital format (Boettcher, 2010, Kindle

Location 1190) supports the need for digital language learners to interact with electronic content

and be creative. Making use of simulations and tutorials within each designed lesson allows

learners time to practice content and stay engaged. Fourth graders need to tinker with and

manipulate information; embedded simulations and videos can engage learners allowing them


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time to develop their own inquiry-based questions. As a result, learners will perhaps dig deeper

into the content searching out answers to their questions.

Best Practice 10

Best practice 10 discusses the importance of wrapping up the course with a good closing.

Use of other tools besides a final assessment should occur in order to assess learner knowledge.

Tools such as a culminating project or presentation can synthesize the core concepts for learners

while providing a meaningful experience and understanding of what learners know. The short

course designed is a fraction of a larger unit on electricity and magnetism and ends with a short

formative assessment. Learners will create a final project in a face-to-face setting at the

completion of the unit.

Tools and Technologies

One of many steps in designing an online course is the selection of an LMS. Several course

management systems provide adequate support and embedded tools for developing and building

a customizable online course. The LMS selected to develop the short course was EDU 2.0 which

offers many powerful free features, including an embedded grade book, the ability to set up

learner groups, and discussion forums. Having greater flexibility in the design of the course shell

and building activities with the learning outcomes, learners needs, and communication tool

selection in mind (Conrad & Donaldson, 2004, p. 23) was a central idea.

The tools and technologies used within the course developed were purposely selected to

focus on the essential (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, Kindle Location 1374) tools needed to


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create collaboration among learners and foster understanding of core concepts. These essential

tools included the following:

Google Docs and Google Forms

Collaboration is an important component that can effectively build a community of

learners. Throughout the course developed, learners have opportunities to collaborate with each

other, such as building a peer rubric to assess each others work. The peer rubric created in a

Google Doc allows students to create and share in real time while analyzing the necessary

components for an exemplar project. Allowing students to create a rubric releases the teacher

from the responsibility of providing a project rubric and gives learners autonomy and

accountability for their learning. The more autonomy teachers give to students in terms of

negotiating the scope and quality of the content they are creating, the better (Richardson, 2010,

Kindle Locations 853-854).

Besides using a Google Doc to encourage collaboration, each weekly lesson has a Google

Form embedded. Goggle Forms are easily embedded into the course and are efficient in quickly

assessing a learners understanding.

Simulations

Science is innately an inquiry-based hands-on subject. Learners need to develop strong

skills in comparing and contrasting events, organizing data, make observations, and to

effectively communicate their understanding. Being able to make real-world connections while

solving problems is a skill digital language learners must possess. An online course presents

some challenges when trying to recreate a hands-on science investigation. To combat the lack of

hands-on materials for students to use at home, simulators have been embedded into the course.

These simulators allow the participant to manipulate the various components of a circuit to test


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hypotheses. Participants can practice skills taught in the face-to-face synchronous classroom at

their leisure which in turn can deepen their understanding.

The simulators selected needed to meet certain criteria such as, grade level appropriateness,

ease of navigation, and the ability for students to share their thinking after completing a task.

Many of the simulators allow students to share their thinking as evidence of their understanding.

YouTube and Flickr

Consideration of visuals is an important design element when developing an online course.

Uses ofYouTube videos and Flickrimages have been incorporated throughout each weekly

lesson to help clarify meaning of content in ways text or narration alone cannot (Reynolds,

2010, Kindle Location 1230 of 3575). The effective use of multimedia and visuals can increase

the participants understanding of the core concepts. Images that connected back to content ideas

were purposely chosen from the creative commons section ofFlickrto help create a story for

learners. When an image was unavailable that failed to fit the necessary criteria for the project,

then Google Draw was utilized, a photo was snapped, or a video was created.

Quizlet

Quizlet is a free Web 2.0 tool that is utilized at the end of each weekly lesson. Basically,

Quizlet is a flashcard maker that allows learners to review key vocabulary by combining visuals

with text and offering interactive games. As each weekly lesson designed for the short course

wraps up, students are expected to review and practice the key academic vocabulary. Exposure to

the essential academic vocabulary words for each lesson can increase language development,

support content knowledge, and allow learners to connect overarching ideas.


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Learner Assessment

More than ever teachers are held accountable for student growth and achievement. The

importance of understanding data and creating common assessments that align to common core

standards are imperative. As a result, common assessments were designed prior to developing

the short course with the purpose of embedding the standards into each assessment. Purposely

working backwards from the assessment to the content while taking into consideration the

learning objectives, can increase the connections for learners to the core concepts.

Each weekly lesson designed for the short course has short formative assessments

embedded to measure student understanding and to gauge student misconceptions. Formative

assessments were designed using Google Forms which easily allow the collection of data. Open

ended critical thinking questions along with general short answer questions were constructed in

the embedded Google Forms. These formative assessments will be used to assess student

understandings and misconceptions of circuits, conductors, and insulators.

Additionally, students will practice creating circuits through online simulators and record

working circuits in a discussion forum, printed artifacts, and through the creation of a video. A

peer-designed rubric will be used to analyze other group members circuit drawings and provide

constructive feedback on the synthesis of the learning objective. Opportunities for learners to be

involved in their own assessment such as the peer rubric allow for relevant and meaningful

evaluation. These authentic performance based assessments will be used to give learners

feedback on how well they understand the information, and on what they need to improve.


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Lastly, a summative quiz is embedded in the week 3 lesson that encompasses all the

learning objectives for the short course. The assessment will focus on whether the stated

objectives of the course have been meet and whether the students have been engaged in the

learning process (Conrad & Donaldson, 2004, p. 34).

Works Cited

Boettcher, J., & Conrad, R.-M. (2010). The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple andPractical Pedagogical Tips. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Collison, G., Elbaum, B., Haavind, S., & Tinker, R. (2000).Facilitating Online Learning

Effective Strategies for Moderators. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.

Conrad, R.-M., & Donaldson, J. A. (2004).Engaging the Online Learner. San Francisco: Jossey-

Bass.

Reynolds, G. (2010).Presentation Zen Design: Simple Design Principles and Techniques to

Enhance Your Presentations. Berkeley: New Riders.

Richardson, W. (2010).Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms.

Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

Documents

On-Line Short Course Design Document