Developing online geography courses: Experiences from Michigan State University

Antoinette Winklerprins, Beth Weisenborn, Richard Groop, and Alan Arbogast

During the academic year 1999-2000, the Geography Department at Michigan State University (MSU) launched a program of online geography courses. Since then, four undergraduate courses have been collectively developed and delivered to over 4,500 domestic and international students in association with MSUs Virtual University Design and Technology (vuDAT). The creation of each virtual course has taught valuable lessons concerning course development and administration; interactions with students have shed insight on course structure, content, and instruction. The article addresses development, management, and pedagogic concerns pertinent to the operation of online geography courses and offers suggestions to others who wish to develop online courses. Preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of these course is also presented.