The following 'best practice' resources can help guide you in the development and teaching of your online, hybrid or technology-enabled course. Please contact us at @email with any questions about these resources.
Online Teaching and Learning Theory
The Community of Inquiry model is a cornerstone of many approaches to teaching and learning online. As you explore the resources here, think about how these principles work with teaching styles you've experienced in the past, and what your teaching style is currently. There are additional articles around the scholarship of teaching and learning and from the educational field to expand on your understandings.
Equity & Inclusion in Online Teaching
This page outlines the importance of equity and inclusion in teaching, and how instructors have a critical role in facilitating these principles within their course. It also has suggestions for ways to create new opportunities to foster inclusion or enhance what you’re already doing to make the course accessible and educational for everyone.
The science of learning is research, conducted by cognitive scientists, on how we process, remember, retrieve, and apply information. The development and retention of new knowledge depends, in large part, on the relationship between what a student is learning and what they already know. Utilize the practices found on this page to further facilitate your students' learning.
Developing Learning Objectives in an Online Course
This resource will guide you to write effective, clear learning objectives for your entire course, as well as individual module/classes.
Developing an Effective Syllabus for an Online Course
This resource introduces the key components of an effective syllabus for an online course, as well as how it’s different from a syllabus for a face-to-face course.
Designing Accessible Online Courses
This resource introduces the importance of accessible design and how it benefits students, including those with disabilities, by creating a more inclusive and supportive learning environment. It ensures that educational materials and technologies are usable by everyone, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Universal Design for Learning, or the ideas that students with various abilities, can meaningfully access and participate in all aspects of the course is introduced in this resource, as these concepts are central to designing your course and syllabus.
Approaches to Assessment Online
This resource provides an overview of the purpose and types of assessment—diagnostic, formative and summative, and it will help you think about why and how you are assessing in your course.
Formative Assessment Online: Guide Students to Success
Formative assessment is used to monitor learning, give students feedback about their work while it is in progress and help students correct errors or missteps. This resource has guidelines and many concrete examples and models of formative assessment techniques.
Create Authentic Summative Assignments Online
Summative assessments ask students to demonstrate their mastery of course concepts and skills; they include term papers, class presentations, portfolios, and high-stakes exams. This resource shares a variety of examples for individuals/small groups and various course types.
Providing Effective Feedback on Students' Learning Process
This resource shares guidelines and suggestions for providing feedback in online courses, as well as links to useful materials, such as rubrics, for the grading process.
Creating Effective Online Quizzes and Exams
This resource has strategies for creating effective exams and avoiding student cheating.
Develop Engaging Instructional Materials
This resource guides you in selecting interesting, student-friendly instructional materials (e.g. textbooks, videos, podcasts, OER, etc.), as well as guides you in creating your own resources (e.g. lecture slides and recordings).
Develop Engaging Learning Activities
Effective learning activities help students achieve the learning objectives of the class/course, prepare them for higher-stakes assessment, and build class community. Read on for has principles for designing learning activities and concrete examples for individuals/small groups and various course types.
Facilitating Class Discussions Online
Discussion forums are commonly used in online courses to develop community, to clarify points of confusion, to share ideas and work, and to develop critical thinking and writing skills. This resource shares ideas for creative ways forums can be used, how to encourage participation, and how to manage large class sizes.
Communicate Effectively with Online Students
Clear, consistent communication is fundamental to a quality online course. This resource walks you through thinking about the different types and purposes of communicating in a course, as well as the tools available and some examples.
Course Welcome and Introductions
Taking the time to introduce yourself, your course, and your students to one another helps build community and demonstrates that you, the instructor, are available to support student learning. This resource provides many ideas and examples of ways to introduce your course.