Planning on Teaching an Online Course?

The Instructional Design and Development group of the Institute for Teaching and Learning offers support and services to instructors planning to teach UConn courses fully online.  IDD will assist interested instructors in the design, development, and maintenance of such courses.  

The online course design process is similar to the design of blended or face to face instruction in that it is based on the alignment of goals, objectives, assessments, and learning activities.  However, the online environment poses unique challenges and offers different advantages when compared to blended or face to face classes.  The IDD group uses various design techniques and accepted standards to guide instructors through the process ensuring instructor and student satisfaction. 

For a one on one consultation and to get more details about the services we provide, please contact:

Desmond McCaffrey
Director,
Instructional Design and Development
desmond.mccaffrey@uconn.edu

In the mean time, you will find useful information about online courses by following the links below:

• Quality Matters [PDF] - ITL, IDD and the Provost's Online Course Grant Initiative have adopted Quality Matters as the baseline measure of quality in online course design. The University Senate Scholastic Standards Subcommittee's Online Course Standards Subcommittee also endorses the use of the QM rubric as a guideline for the development of online courses. Further information on the research supporting the standards can be found here: http://www.qmprogram.org/latest-research-support-rubric-standards
• An Introduction to Teaching Online - A well crafted paper discussing key issues around designing online courses, the role of faculty involvement once the course is offered, assessment, communication, technology and other important topics.
• Competencies for Online Teaching Success (VIDEOS) - This YouTube channel provides many videos of faculty discussing the competencies needed to be a successful online teacher.
• Instructional Design Process- This web site from Florida Gulf Coast University provides a great step by step explanation of the instructional design process.
• Instructional Strategies for Online Courses - This web site from the Illinois Online Network describes a number of effective online instructional strategies.
• Instructional Design - Another useful web site from the Illinois Online Network describing theoretical frameworks as well as concrete practices for designing online courses.
• Web Accessibility for Online Courses - A brief guide to best practices in creating accessible online materials. This information is essential for meeting federally and state mandated accessibility requirements.
• Crafting Questions for On-line Discussions - A comprehensive resource for developing various types of questions for use in online discussions.