Online Teaching

Getting Started


Whether you’re teaching in person, blended, or online, course design takes a “backward” approach, beginning with the writing of learning outcomes, followed by assessments that provide evidence of students reaching those outcomes, and then course activities and the related content that will help students learn.

 

In an online class, students will also need an orientation to the virtual classroom, as its setup may be unfamiliar to them or different from other online classrooms they’ve experienced. You may also want to think ahead about how you will interact and communicate with students, as well as be present in your online course.

Learning Outcomes

Writing appropriate course learning outcomes and ensuring that students are able to attain them should be the first considerations in designing a course. Your learning outcomes and course goals are foundational to developing learning activities and assignments. How will students practice, acquire, and demonstrate course learning outcomes? It’s most likely that the outcomes and goals won’t change in your transition to online, but the methods used to support student success will.  

  • Consider the typical learning methods used in your face-to-face course.  
  • Some activities, like group discussion, can be replicated online through asynchronous discussion or synchronous small collaborative group work. 
  • If you find an activity that isn’t easily replicated online, consider a different activity that will facilitate the same type and quality of learning. 
  • Assessments, in particular, may require substantial changes to allow students to effectively demonstrate they’ve acquired a learning outcome. Perhaps a scaffolded group project can replace a traditional proctored exam, or if an exam is necessary maybe it can be structured as a rigorous take-home, open book assessment.  

Syllabus

The course syllabus is a comprehensive guide to the entire course and serves as a permanent record of a course for administrative purposes. The Syllabus Policy outlines information that must be included in a syllabus, such as your contact details, learning outcomes, any assignments or exams, and university statement, policies, and resources. A section of the Syllabus Policy outlines required and optional elements for online and blended courses. To facilitate the creation of a syllabus, the CLT provides syllabus templates for both online and blended courses [NetID login required].

Netiquette Guidelines

In your syllabus or as part of your course orientation, considering including ground rules for how students should be engaging in both asynchronous and synchronous online course spaces. Try including (or co-creating with your students) Netiquette guidelines to ensure students understand how you expect them to communicate and engage with you and their peers. Examples of Netiquette guidelines you can use to create your own include:

Course Orientation

Unlike more traditional, in-person classes, students in an online or blended course may not know how to get started in the course. You may find your students benefit from having access to an orientation module that includes information on what they should expect of the experience, how to navigate the course, and any required technology. Ask students to complete the orientation as an expectation of the course, ensuring it is built into the course schedule, so students have the time they need to work through it.

The content of a quality orientation module will depend on your course and students, but here are some components you could consider including (Palloff & Pratt, 2003):

  • Instructor welcome video
  • Tour of online course site
  • Expectations and protocols for online interaction (i.e., Netiquette)
  • Info on any required/specialized technology or tools
  • Helpful links and resources
  • Indicators of student success in online courses (e.g., time management)
  • Delineation of roles and expectations for students and instructor

Elements of a course orientation are already built into the Brightspace templates.

References

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2003). The virtual student: A profile and guide to working with online learners. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.