Designing for Distance Learning

Laying the right foundations

Designing and running effective, responsive, sustainable, maintainable, scalable and costed distance learning courses often involves skills, processes and resources outside of the scope of academic departments. This section explains how academic departments can take advantage of central support and concentrate on what they do best.

The University of Leicester has a distance learning Course Design and Development Unit (CDDU), which is a key support service for distance learning development. The CDDU have been recognised as the first port of call for all distance learning course design and development enquiries.

Operations and Fulfilment

Operations and Fulfilment deals with every aspect of distance learning production and dispatch, both on and off-line. This can range from printed course materials and readers through to initial starter parts with webcams and USB microphones.

At present this part Distance Education Centre (DEC) service is under development and the following may help to meet your immediate needs:

How to get a job designed and printed at the University of Leicester
The Web Centre

Resources

• See the CDDU Resources section for course design and development resources.
• The Student Learning Centre has an extensive range of resources to underpin your course design and support your students through their studies.
• The Library website has a Distance Learners & Part-time Research Students area and the subject librarians and the subject rooms have a wealth of information.
• IT Services offer Blackboard training programme that address on-line course design, Abobe Presenter which is a very effective learning technology, the Barefoot E-moderator course and Turnitin.
• The BDRA's Media Zoo is a good place to experiment with learning technologies.

Student Development
Library - Distance learners and part-time students
Library - Subject Rooms
Blackboard Training Programme
Media Zoo