In this unit we are assuming you have analyzed several existing materials, not found materials that suit your needs and have decided to design your own course materials. Thus this unit concentrates on several principles for the visual design of web-based courses, the practical use of these design principles and how they can be implemented within Blackboard courses. This Visual Design Principles presentation will go over layout, consistency, graphics, accessibility and typography providing you with examples. Presented along with this presentation is a useful visual design principles checklist for web courses that you could use as you design and plan your online courses.

Since Blackboard is our course management system, it is important to be aware of the tools readily available to you to enhance the visual design and organization of your online course. We touched on this topic area in Module 1 when we talked about managing course interface. Review the first 11 slides in Module 1 Unit 7 as a quick recap of this topic.

Navigation is arguably the most important part of web course design. It can seem like common sense but these ideas are often forgotten. Thus it is very important to consider how learners will move through your content and not get “lost in cyberspace.” There are several key web navigational principles that can help you organize your course more effectively to provide a better experience for learners.

• Chunking - Many people prefer not to scroll down within your content; therefore
  it makes sense to chunk your content into manageable portions for your learner
  and to break that content into separate web pages. Use of folders, items and menu buttons.
• Banner - Remember students take several courses each semester, thus they may
  have several courses to navigate through. A banner on the main home page is useful
  to provide a learner with a signpost telling them where they are. It is common practice
  for course developers to develop a banner for instructors.
• Page/section titles - A page title explains the purpose of a page to a student and can
  cue them to what’s important before they read the entire page.
• Instructions – If you are asking a student to do something with the content of your
  page provided instructions to orient learners.
• Folders – Blackboard use a folder metaphor to allow faculty to chunk information into sections. Use this tool to subdivide content.
• Links – Hyperlinks can take a learner elsewhere. Make sure the target of the link clearly identified and that the link works

Click here to view some examples of course screenshots that effectively use
visual design principles.

Learning Activity #1

Using the visual design principles checklist, identify if this sample course website meets the visual design principles. For instance, does the course website meet:

• Text size and font types
• Colors (text, background)
• Chunking of information and content
• Consistency and accuracy
• Branded look and feel/themes and graphics

Submit completed checklist via Assignment tool. (Blackboard access only) Instructional designers will provide individual feedback. Post a journal posting (Blackboard access only)
in the Blackboard journal outlining your visual design plan for your lesson keeping in mind the visual design elements outlined in the presentation.

Microsoft PowerPoint is one of the most commonly used presentation tools in instruction. A program designed to create professional slideshow presentations, it has the capability for the user to add graphics, images, video and attractive slide backdrops and layout. Often faculty put together slides with content from textbooks, their own notes, internet and other resources. Often we see that ill developed presentations that pack in too little or too much content, are vague and use unprofessional graphics and fonts. Just as a good website is based on sound visual design principles, a slide presentation should follow the same design principles. Here in this section, we have attempted to provide you a cheat sheet of PowerPoint Design Tips that can you use as you go about creating your course presentations.