The Distance Education department is eager to
help you improve and enhance your online courses so more students will be
successful. As you successfully complete the semester with your online students
please remember the following guidelines. In addition, I have attached a
rubric for evaluating your online course.
Expectations for Online Courses
As
an instructor for a course taught fully online, there are basic requirements
that must be met. Below are the basic expectations:
- Courses must have sufficient content. For example, a three credit traditional course meets 2.5 hours per week and then there is work outside of class. An online class must mirror this. There needs to be teaching content for students to interact with that engages them for as much time as would a traditional course. This content can be handouts, readings, instructor created audio lectures, videos, or a wide range of other learning activities.
- Online courses must have the same learning outcomes as traditional courses.
- Teachers must be actively engaged with the course. They cannot set-up a course on “auto-pilot” and then not be present in the course. Teachers must log into their online courses, interact with the students and keep grades current.
- Students must have the opportunity to interact with the teacher and with other students. Interactions include emails and discussion boards, but can also be other interactions such as phone conferences, feedback in the grade center, and others.
- Students should not have to wait for a response to an inquiry (email, phone, discussion board, etc.) for more than 48 hours.
