Our version of questions to be asked about designing and running courses in virtual worlds:

Pre-course preparation:

Decision making process

What was your starting point in thinking about the design of the virtual course? For example, did you make use of any instructional design models from the literature or any other model? If you did not make use of any existing models, what initial decisions did you take to design your course?

If you used an instructional design model for your virtual course, was this model driven by any learning or teaching theories?  Similarly, if you did not use a model, was your decision making about the design of your virtual course guided by any teaching or learning theories?

Aims/objectives

Learners

Are students of other institutions engaged?

Have the participants received previous SL training? In which format [video tutorials, workshops]/ how long?

Logistics-timetabling

How will virtual worlds be implemented?  As blended learning, as distant learning, compulsory,…

How are the sessions organized? [number of participants/ duration]

Course syllabus  (didactics)

Have the activities/ tasks that are going to be part of the course been tested before the course?

Who has designed the activities/tasks? [instructor self or external]

Do all the activities/tasks have the same design format/criteria?

How are these activities/tasks linked to their actual course content? [if the course is not entirely given in SL]

What is the SL tasks/activities weight in the course grade?

                  Production (resources and materials)

                  What resources have been prepared for your course?

Do participants have access to preparatory documents before tasks/activities take place in SL?

During the course

Did learners have access to technical support during the sessions? [if so, in which form?]

What technical issues were experienced, if any? Most frequently experienced issues?

If there were technical issues, how were they dealt with/resolved? Most common ways of solving issues?

How was the interaction/communication between tutors and learners/learners and learners during the classes/outside of the classes?

Were resources shared/used/distributed effectively?

Post- course

Was there any formative assessment (week by week), if so, how was this done?

How was the whole course evaluated? [by what means-e.g. interviews? and who did the evaluation?]

Evaluation of tasks/materials:

Are tasks/activities evaluated individually?

How have the tasks/activities contributed to the goals of the course?

How have the resources/materials contributed to the goals of the course?

How has the evaluation been used?

Dissemination?