Learning Objectives for Online Instruction

The terms outcomes, goals, aims, and objectives are often used interchangeably.

For an online instructor, the ability to understand these terms is an important part of the instructional design process for online course development.

In this course, learning objectives refer to the learning that students are expected to demonstrate for a particular lesson or assignment; they are written in terms of competencies that reflect learning domains in one or more taxonomies.

Objectives serve as the basis for selecting instructional strategies and assessment methods.

For this Discussion, review the "SMART" criteria for writing quality learning objectives provided in this week's Learning Resources.

Write a one page explanation of the role of learning objectives in instructional design for online course development. Then, describe two considerations that an online instructor might keep in mind with regard to the "SMART" criteria for writing learning objectives for online instruction.

Finally, explain one strength and one limitation of the "SMART" criteria. Be specific and provide support from the Learning Resources and scholarly literature.

please use these resources as parenthetical and in text citations:

Iowa State University, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (n.d.). Revised Bloom's taxonomy.

Ko, S., & Rossen, S. (2010). Course design and development. In Teaching online: A practical guide.(3rd ed., pp. 53-57). New York, NY: Routledge.