Course Structuring - Technology last

The quarter starts in less than two weeks and I am scrambling to get everything organized. I am especially conscious of the fact that I will be out of town at a conference every week in October. So at least the first several weeks of my American Government class needs to be completely done.

I have been using Workflowy to organize my American Government class and create my course map. Workflowy is essentially an outlining program.  I personally love outlines - I have a linear mind and ordering things in lists like this makes me happy.  I know it is not for everyone, so you might want to use mind maps or whatever. 

When planning an online class it is incredibly tempting to dive right into the learning management system, but resist the temptation!  The technology should be last.  You want the technology to support what you are doing, not the other way around. If you don't know what you are doing, then you can't know how to support it. So, start with your outline, your course plan, your outcomes/objectives.  

This is hard, I admit. For me and I'm guessing a lot of you, playing with the technology and thinking of how it can improve teaching and learning is great fun. But in the crunch time of the last couple of weeks before the quarter, there is no time for fun. I have to be focused and get this course map/outline done. You'll see how successful I am by checking out my live Workflowy American Government Outline.