Interior Design for the Frugal Home Remodeler

COURSE TEMPLATE DESIGNER: Barbara Rutledge

COURSE TITLE: Interior Design for the Frugal Home Remodeler

DATE: September 17, 2009

Course Description: Overall description of the course including the need for the course determined by your mini-analysis and the audience for this particular course.

This community education course is designed to assist homeowners who are interested in remodeling a room or rooms in their homes. This is a survey course to provide information and resources to those interesting in learning about the process of interior design. My target audience is anyone with access to the Internet who is interested in remodeling their home. A prerequisite for the course is to complete a tech literacy course or to pass a tech literacy assessment. No knowledge of interior design is needed. This non-credit course would be offered through the community schools.

Course Instructional/Learning Strategies: Explain why you organized the course in a particular way and why you chose the strategies you used within the course (e.g., collaborative aspects, learning activities, problem-based learning, etc.).

Home remodelers have varied goals for their remodeling projects. Some projects will be small and could be completed by the homeowners in a short period of time. Others may tackler larger projects and need the assistance of interior designers, contractors and architects. This course is designed to assist homeowners with their own goals for learning. These goals may change and the course progresses and they refine their goals. Learning about the process of interior design can assist homeowners from making costly mistakes. Learning the technology can assist them with communicating with professionals. The course uses collaboration tools so that students can get feedback from others on their ideas and designs. The course will expose students to software tools than can assist them with their projects. Modeling tools such as Ikea's “Home Planner” can help them visualize their projects. Use of a spreadsheet will be used to assist students with building a sample budget.

Course Media Platforms (Web, LMS, Email, Forum, Wiki, Blog, Social Software, etc.):

This course will use various web resources. The Blackboard LMS will be used. A valid email address will need to be provided by the student for communication with the instructor. Students will communicate with each other through use the course forum.

Describe the type of platform you will use for your course and why you chose that particular platform. If your course uses multiple platforms, provide an explanation for each type of platform.

The instructor will be using the Windows operating system. Students may use either a PC or a Mac. Some tools may operate differently on a Mac or may not be available on a Mac. Links to other tools will be provided and differences between the systems will be explained as it relates to this course. Mac's have good tools for design, but the instructor owns a PC, so that is the platform the instructor will be using.

Course Provision for Learner Autonomy: Describe how your course provides each learner with his/her own autonomy and how your course meets each participant’s learning style.

Students can select from a variety of tools to help them with their projects. Tech savvy students might use a tool as complicated as AutoCad and others might use freeware to help them visualize their projects. Low tech students can visit a home design or home improvement store and watch others design with these tools.

Course Provision for Structure: Describe the aspects of the course that provide structure for the learners (e.g., one website for them to find information, outline of the course, syllabus, etc.)

Blackboard will be used to provide structure. The navigation buttons on the left will all be used and will help provide the structure. Documents provided by the instructor will be linked to when discussed. A variety of forums will be available to provide discussion on various topics discussed within the course.

Course Communication: Describe the methods of communication used within your course by both students and instructors and explain why you chose these communication platforms. Also, describe how these opportunities for communication help increase the dialog within the course.

To avoid spamming students, forums will be used for class discussions. Email will be limited to the instructor and student unless students form groups and decide on their own to use email. Forums allows students to get a variety of perspectives on their projects and allow students to learn from each other. This also increases the opportunity of feedback to students without having to wait for an instructor to be available to provide timely feedback.

Assessments (major & minor): Describe any major and minor assessments used within your course and why you chose these particular types of assessments. Include descriptions any self-assessments or peer assessments participants will use within the course.

Students will take a technology assessment prior to taking the course to ensure that they have some minimal technology skills. Any students without knowledge of basic skills such as word processing, web searching and email will be encourage to take a basic computing course prior to taking the course. By ensuring that students have some level of technology knowledge, the instructor and those in the course will not be hampered by students that do not have a basic level of tech skills. Peer assessments will be used to provide students with other perspectives on their design project. This course is a non-credit course, so no tests will be given. Student projects will be reviewed by the instructor and feedback provided. Students will do a course assessment at the end of the course to provide feedback on how the course can be improved. Short informal and formal surveys will be provided throughout the course to see how students are progressing and how the course can be modified to meet their changing needs.