Design of a Telecourse: From Registration to Final Exam.

Defining a telecourse as a series of lessons presented through the medium of television, this paper outlines four uses of telecourses and describes three different options for telecourse design: (1) use of commercially-available materials; (2) use of professor-developed materials; and (3) a combination of the two. Focusing on the professor-developed telecourse, this guide presents specific recommendations for the selection of a camera and an appropriate videotape format, selection of locations for filming the lessons, appropriate use of technical personnel in filming and editing, scheduling the filming sessions, selection of appropriate audiovisual aids, and use of resource people. Implementation issues are also discussed, including the selection of delivery and communication systems, student registration for courses, the structure of the initial class meeting, distribution of syllabi, selection of textbooks, types of assignments, maintaining student motivation, and test design and scoring. Finally, options for evaluating telecourse lessons are briefly described. A checklist, intended as a decision-making aid for professors developing their own telecourse lessons, is keyed to the options described throughout the text. (10 references) (GL)