Instructional design guidelines for authentic activity in online learning units

The current trend to use the World Wide Web as a vehicle for the delivery of distance education units has required educators to adopt innovative approaches to the design of learning materials for this medium. However, the temptation to place large tracts of text online is deeply entrenched. This paper describes a project where guidelines for the design of authentic activities have been derived from a broad literature base. The guidelines have been used in the development of Masters subjects, where authors are encouraged to use learning activities as the central focus of study—the activity does not supplement the unit, it is the unit. The emphasis is placed on the design of activities, integrated assessment of the activities, identification of resources and establishment of collaborative tools. Examples of activities, together with the instructional design guidelines, are provided, and the use of theory and research to inform the instructional design process is discussed.