Introduction

Purpose

The purpose of this manual is to make it easier to develop and manage TUC online courses, and also to make the quality of the course materials, support and moderation as good as possible.

Readers should be able to learn from the experience of the pilot courses that have been designed and delivered so far, and from the decisions that have been made. The idea is not to constrain people with past decisions, but to document past thinking to provide a platform for the best-informed decisions about future delivery.

The plan is to update this manual regularly in the light of further experience.

Overview

The manual covers the management of different stages of course development and delivery.

• The Design Guide covers processes that have been found helpful in course design, and important points about accreditation and implications for designing activities. It does not tell you how to design your course: that is left to your discretion and creativity.

• The Administration Guide covers the steps that are necessary to promote a course, to process applications, organise learners into groups and assign those groups to colleges and tutors. It outlines a division of labour between the TUC centrally and college administrators. It focuses especially on the online enrolment system (which, at the time of writing, was very new), and how it can be used to set up course runs.

• The Tutor Guide covers all the tasks and responsibilities of tutors, from reviewing pre-course assessments, through preparation and welcoming learners, to providing feedback and guiding learners through to accreditation.

• The Learner Guide refers to guidance to be given to learners to help them work through the course, and understand the disciplines of learning online.

• The Testing Guide outlines the externally-determined standards to which TUC online learning aims to conform, and how to test whether the materials and support do conform.

• The Moderation Arrangements describe a process for ensuring smooth accreditation of learners, which is to be led by Administrators in collaboration with Tutors.

The Appendix to the Manual provides a possible approach to managing all the above roles and responsibilities and sequencing them effectively.