Resources
Best Practices
Our Online Program Best Practices Document provides an overview of best practices in course design, grounded in research and evidence-based practice, for online programs. These best practices form the foundation of a course and promote continuity in the student experience. Office of Online & Professional Learning Resources (OPLR) instructional designers and faculty partners work together to incorporate these practices into the course development process.
Leveling Up Professional Development Courses
The OPLR Faculty Development Series consists of three courses, Planning Your Online Course, Developing Your Online Course, and Teaching Your Online Course, designed to empower instructors with the essential skills to create and teach in an effective and engaging online learning environment. In the first two courses, faculty will design an assessment plan that aligns with their objectives and create detailed lesson plans that foster student engagement and success. Additionally, they will develop rubrics to clearly define assessment criteria and support consistent evaluation. There is also a focus on selecting high-quality learning materials that align with course goals, helping faculty curate resources that enhance the online learning experience. The teaching course emphasizes the importance of cultivating a sense of community from the outset, fostering student engagement and connection. Faculty will also develop techniques for establishing and maintaining a strong instructor presence, enhancing student learning throughout the course.
Faculty members with OPLR will automatically be enrolled in the courses by their instructional designer at the beginning of the course development or revision process. While faculty work on course development, they will work through the three courses with an instructional designer to provide a foundation of knowledge for online teaching.
Instructional Strategies and Course Design Showcase
The Instructional Strategies and Course Design Showcase is a collection of examples from OPLR online courses that represent best practices in online learning. Many of the examples feature testimonials from faculty and instructional designers highlighting their effectiveness and offering tips and suggestions for implementing them in your own courses. The showcase was built by the OPLR Instructional Design Team to help faculty, instructional designers, and anyone who’s building an online course spark ideas, save time during course development, and celebrate great course design work!
IDeas: Strategies for teaching online
The ID team newsletter was developed to support and appreciate our hardworking faculty, featuring content that is hand-picked by the instructional design team on topics our faculty are interested in! Each issue includes the latest OPLR news, teaching tips and strategies, dates for upcoming webinars and live streams, and topical interviews with your fellow online instructors.
Artificial Intelligence Resources
With the arrival of ChatGPT, Bing Chat, and other applications, many have wondered how these tools will change teaching and higher education.
The OPLR instructional design team has created the Generative AI Course Reflection tool to make discussing AI tools during course development projects easier and to help you think about how AI will impact your work. Using this tool, you will be guided through the backward design process, including examples and suggestions. You will also find resources for starting your AI learning journey.
Tip Sheets
OPLR tip sheets are brief (two-sided) information sheets designed to provide faculty with convenient and concise explanations of selected aspects of course development. The gallery below is complete, but check back often, because the list is constantly expanding. Note that additional tip sheets are included on the ASG website.
If you have feedback or would like to suggest topics for additional tip sheets, please contact a designer.