Instructional design and development interface

Abstract

Methods and systems are disclosed for interactively developing an educational course and the materials for it using a backward design, or top-down, approach based on course objectives and course outcomes in one embodiment. Educators or other course creators are able to implement this design approach through an Integrated Design and Development Interface (IDDI). The IDDI guides course development by organizing course content in a relational database. The IDDI maps a plurality of course objectives to a plurality of course outcomes to create a course model. The IDDI uses the course model to generate and/or automatically user interfaces used by a course creator to input lower-level course information.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A top-down method for electronically creating an educational course, the top-down method comprising:
 receiving a plurality of course objectives from an educator for the educational course, wherein a course objective is a goal to be achieved by a student taking the educational course;   receiving a plurality of course outcomes from the educator, wherein a course outcome is a skill that demonstrates at least partial achievement of a corresponding course objective;   receiving input from the educator related to mapping between the plurality of course objectives to the plurality of course outcomes;   mapping the plurality of course objectives to the plurality of course outcomes to create a course model;   storing the course model;   generating a plurality of interface pages prepopulated with previously received information in the course model, wherein the plurality of interface pages include two or more of:
 a course outline interface, 
 a lesson plan interface, and 
 a course syllabus interface; 
   receiving course information from the plurality of interface pages that is entered by the educator;   updating the course model with the course information.   
     
     
         2 . The top-down method for electronically creating the educational course of  claim 1 , wherein the course model is implemented using a relational database. 
     
     
         3 . The top-down method for electronically creating the educational course of  claim 1 , wherein the last three limitations of the top-down method are performed after the first three receiving limitations. 
     
     
         4 . The top-down method for electronically creating the educational course of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a display device of the educator that will display the plurality of interface pages;   selecting a format for an interface page, wherein the format is appropriate for the display device; and   sending the interface page to the display device.   
     
     
         5 . The top-down method for electronically creating the educational course of  claim 1 , further comprising automatically generating from the course model at least two of:
 a lesson presentation,   a syllabus,   a course outline,   a lesson structure, and/or   a course topics list.   
     
     
         6 . The top-down method for electronically creating the educational course of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving one or both of a course outcome and/or a course objective from the educator interacting with the plurality of interface pages; and   updating the course model with the received one or both of a course outcome and/or a course objective.   
     
     
         7 . The top-down method for electronically creating the educational course of  claim 1 , wherein the course information is selected from the group consisting of:
 a textbook,   reading assignments,   a course title,   a course weighting table,   course assessments,   a time-on-task table, and   visual media for instruction.   
     
     
         8 . A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and comprising code that when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform a top-down method for electronically creating an educational course, the code comprising instructions to:
 receive a plurality of course objectives from an educator for the educational course, wherein a course objective is a goal to be achieved by a student taking the educational course;   receive a plurality of course outcomes from the educator, wherein a course outcome is a skill that demonstrates at least partial achievement of a corresponding course objective;   receive input from the educator related to mapping between the plurality of course objectives to the plurality of course outcomes;   map the plurality of course objectives to the plurality of course outcomes to create a course model;   store the course model;   generate a plurality of interface pages prepopulated with previously received information in the course model, wherein the plurality of interface pages include two or more of:
 a course outline interface, 
 a lesson plan interface, and 
 a course syllabus interface; 
   receive course information from the plurality of interface pages that is entered by the educator; and   update the course model with the course information.   
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the course model is implemented using a relational database. 
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the last three limitations of the top-down method are performed after the first three receiving limitations. 
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , further comprising code to:
 determine a display device of the educator that will display the plurality of interface pages,   select a format for an interface page, wherein the format is appropriate for the display device, and   send the interface page to the display device.   
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , further comprising code to automatically generate from the course model at least two of:
 a lesson presentation,   a syllabus,   a course outline,   a lesson structure, or   a course topics list.   
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , further comprising code to:
 receive one or both of a course outcome and/or a course objective from the educator interacting with the plurality of interface pages; and   update the course model with the one or both of a course outcome and/or a course objective.   
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the course information is selected from the group consisting of:
 a textbook,   reading assignments,   a course title,   a course weighting table,   course assessments,   a time-on-task table, and   visual media for instruction.   
     
     
         15 . A system for electronically creating an educational course, the system comprising:
 a course model creation engine configured to:
 receive a plurality of course objectives from an educator for the educational course, wherein a course objective is a goal to be achieved by a student taking the educational course, 
 receive a plurality of course outcomes from the educator, wherein a course outcome is a skill that demonstrates at least partial achievement of a corresponding course objective, 
 receive input from the educator related to mapping between the plurality of course objectives to the plurality of course outcomes, 
 map the plurality of course objectives to the plurality of course outcomes to create a course model, and 
 store the course model; 
   a course component creation engine configured to:
 generate a plurality of interface pages prepopulated with previously received information in the course model, wherein the plurality of interface pages include two or more of: 
 a course outline interface, 
 a lesson plan interface, and 
 a course syllabus interface, 
 receive course information from the plurality of interface pages that is entered by the educator, and 
 cause updating the course model with the course information. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system for electronically creating an educational course of  claim 15 , wherein the course model is implemented using a relational database. 
     
     
         17 . The system for electronically creating an educational course of  claim 15 , wherein the last three limitations of the top-down method are performed after the first three receiving limitations. 
     
     
         18 . The system for electronically creating an educational course of  claim 15 , wherein the course component creation engine is further configured to:
 determine a display device of the educator that will display the plurality of interface pages,   select a format for an interface page, wherein the format is appropriate for the display device, and   send the interface page to the display device.   
     
     
         19 . The system for electronically creating an educational course of  claim 15 , wherein the course model comprises at least two of:
 a lesson presentation,   a syllabus,   a course outline,   a lesson structure, and/or   a course topics list.   
     
     
         20 . The system for electronically creating an educational course of  claim 15 , wherein the course component creation engine is further configured to:
 receive one or both of a course outcome and/or a course objective from the educator interacting with the plurality of interface pages; and   update the course model with the one or both of a course outcome and/or a course objective.