Over the years, we've noticed several trends that affect the online learning experience, especially for students who are new to online courses. This resource is divided into two main sections: the first focuses on what faculty can do to prepare their students for online learning, and the second offers useful tips for students to consider. We hope you find this information helpful for setting your students on the path to success in your online course.

Project Management for Instructional Designers (PM4ID) is a textbook about project management tailored specifically for instructional designers, intended for use in graduate programs in educational technology. This book is based on a pre-existing openly licensed textbook donated to the commons by a benefactor who desires to remain anonymous. It has been collaboratively revised and updated by students and faculty at the University of Saskatchewan. It contains case studies, video cases and audio recordings of interviews with Canadian instructional design experts, and interactive reviews of three chapters using H5P.

Job aid for recording PowerPoint with voiceover and embedding it into a course.

A sample of a reflection assignment for digital courses based on L. Dee Fink's significant learning framework.

The SHSU Online Course Design Rubric is used to guide and inform the course development process, as well as evaluate the design of any course which contains online components. It can be used whether the course is fully or partially online, flipped or web‐assisted face‐to‐face.

The Rubric was developed by a team of instructional designers and course development practitioners based on nationally recognized, research‐based quality assurance standards related to the essential components of online course design. This includes...

- General course information
- Presentation of course content
- Collaboration & Communication
- Assessment Strategies
- Course Technology
- Learner Support, and
- Accessibility

Not only is the rubric the primary instrument utilized at SHSU for the development and evaluation of online courses, but the tool can also be used as a self‐assessment instrument by instructors as a means to receive constructive feedback on the design of a course, and a means to identify and document effective online course design.

The SHSU Online Course Design Rubric has also been vetted by faculty who are actively involved in online teaching for SHSU. Use of the rubric to inform the development of distance education courses leads to multiple benefits, including...

- Improved student learning
- Ease of navigation of the course environments
- Reduced ambiguity for faculty and students
- More appropriate use of technology

The Rubric for Hybrid/Blended Course Design with FEEDBACK is a fillable tool that can be used to evaluate the integration of pedagogy in a fully online course. This tool is a compliment to the SHSU Online Course Design Rubric, also located as Open Source in the OERTX. This tool can be used by various types of reviewers, from instructional designers, to peer faculty reviewers, to program assessment reviewers, or external reviewers.

Also check out the SHSU Online Course Design Rubrics for fully online courses, online-live courses, and hybrid/blended courses.

The SHSU Online Course Design Rubric is used to guide and inform the course development process, as well as evaluate the design of any course which contains online components. It can be used whether the course is fully or partially online, flipped or web‐assisted face‐to‐face.

The Rubric was developed by a team of instructional designers and course development practitioners based on nationally recognized, research‐based quality assurance standards related to the essential components of online course design. This includes...

- General course information
- Presentation of course content
- Collaboration & Communication
- Assessment Strategies
- Course Technology
- Learner Support, and
- Accessibility

Not only is the rubric the primary instrument utilized at SHSU for the development and evaluation of online courses, but the tool can also be used as a self‐assessment instrument by instructors as a means to receive constructive feedback on the design of a course, and a means to identify and document effective online course design.

The SHSU Online Course Design Rubric has also been vetted by faculty who are actively involved in online teaching for SHSU. Use of the rubric to inform the development of distance education courses leads to multiple benefits, including...

- Improved student learning
- Ease of navigation of the course environments
- Reduced ambiguity for faculty and students
- More appropriate use of technology

The Rubric for Online Course Design with FEEDBACK is a fillable tool that can be used to evaluate the integration of pedagogy in a fully online course. This tool is a compliment to the SHSU Online Course Design Rubric, also located as Open Source in the OERTX. This tool can be used by various types of reviewers, from instructional designers, to peer faculty reviewers, to program assessment reviewers, or external reviewers.

Also check out the SHSU Online Course Design Rubrics for fully online courses, online-live courses, and hybrid/blended courses.

The SHSU Online Course Design Rubric is used to guide and inform the course development process, as well as evaluate the design of any course which contains online components. It can be used whether the course is fully or partially online, flipped or web‐assisted face‐to‐face.

The Rubric was developed by a team of instructional designers and course development practitioners based on nationally recognized, research‐based quality assurance standards related to the essential components of online course design. This includes...

- General course information
- Presentation of course content
- Collaboration & Communication
- Assessment Strategies
- Course Technology
- Learner Support, and
- Accessibility

Not only is the rubric the primary instrument utilized at SHSU for the development and evaluation of online courses, but the tool can also be used as a self‐assessment instrument by instructors as a means to receive constructive feedback on the design of a course, and a means to identify and document effective online course design.

The SHSU Online Course Design Rubric has also been vetted by faculty who are actively involved in online teaching for SHSU. Use of the rubric to inform the development of distance education courses leads to multiple benefits, including...

- Improved student learning
- Ease of navigation of the course environments
- Reduced ambiguity for faculty and students
- More appropriate use of technology

Definition Online Live Course: 100% of instruction (lectures) and course contact hours occurring synchronously (live) online. An online live course is defined at SHSU as an online course with 100% of instruction (lectures) and course contact hours occurring synchronously (live) online. Students enrolled in an online-live course are required to participate in synchronous, online instruction and other course activities in real-time during scheduled class meeting times. Course materials, activities, and instructional assets will be stored in the learning management system.

The Rubric for Online-Live Course Design with FEEDBACK is a fillable tool that can be used to evaluate the integration of pedagogy in a fully online course. This tool is a compliment to the SHSU Online Course Design Rubric, also located as Open Source in the OERTX. This tool can be used by various types of reviewers, from instructional designers, to peer faculty reviewers, to program assessment reviewers, or external reviewers.

Also check out the SHSU Online Course Design Rubrics for fully online courses, online-live courses, and hybrid/blended courses.

The Sam Houston State University Online Web Accessibility Guide serves as a resource for faculty and staff as you implement accessibility into online spaces. The practices illustrated throughout this guide prioritize learners' needs, reduce barriers to instruction, and are imperative to each student's success. There are countless numbers of low- or no-cost digital educational materials available that may alleviate out-of-pocket expenses but cannot guarantee access to all students unless it meets certain Web Accessibility standards. These basic practices are intended to increase faculty awareness of digital accessibility on campus and learn to make low-effort, high-impact adjustments to create materials that support a variety of learners. Used in conjunction with Blackboard ALLY, learners can instantaneously engage with course content in alternate formats without the need for accommodations or slow turnaround times for third-party remediation. In addition, faculty can be confident in providing this flexibility of use to their learners and know their materials are compatible with assistive technology software and devices, such as screen readers. We hope that faculty and staff will reference this guide when creating or editing course materials in the future. These practices illustrated will create a more accessible classroom for all learners and promote an inclusive institution—a mission we here at Sam Houston State University are dedicated to exemplifying.

A SMART goal is a comprehensive target statement used to guide planning and performance. In online course design, SMART goals ensure clarity, focus, and accountability, helping educators and course designers create effective and well-structured learning experiences tailored to student needs and outcomes. This infographic describes the elements that make up S.M.A.R.T. goals and provides an online course example. **Note that this item is intended to be used in conjunction with the Needs Assessments: A How-To Guide for Online Instruction handout.

This “School Leader Digital Learning Guide” is a resource to help you consider, plan, fund, implement, maintain, and adapt learning programs that meet the unique needs and requirements of the students and teachers that you serve.

This guide is designed to provide important resources and recommendations to support teacher implementation of digital learning.

The book examines the underlying principles that guide effective teaching in an age when all of us, and in particular the students we are teaching, are using technology. A framework for making decisions about your teaching is provided, while understanding that every subject is different, and every instructor has something unique and special to bring to their teaching.

The book enables teachers and instructors to help students develop the knowledge and skills they will need in a digital age: not so much the IT skills, but the thinking and attitudes to learning that will bring them success.

Book release date (final version): 1 April 2015

A guide for online instructors and instructional designers on best practices for using simulations in online courses.

VALUE rubrics are open educational resources (OER) that enable educators to assess students’ original work. AAC&U offers a proven methodology for applying the VALUE rubrics to evaluate student performance reliably and verifiably across 16 broad, cross-cutting learning outcomes.