91´ó»ÆѼ

Have you or your program conducted and completed the analysis steps? Then, you are ready to begin theÌý process for creating your course and developing learning goals, objectives, and outcomes! The design process is like going on a journey and provides a roadmap with three essential questions:

1. Where are you going? (Identify needs, may include learning context and audience)
2. How do you get there? (Start with writing goals and learning objectives, then focus onÌýassessments, learning activities, and instructional materials/content)
3. How do you know you’ve arrived? (Evaluation of meeting learning outcomes and design)

Understanding the Backwards Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998) process is a foundational step for designing any course. Along with developing learning objectives, assessments, instructional materials and activities, utilize theÌý (COI) framework (Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007) to consider how you willÌýinteract with the learner, how learners will interact with the content, and how learners will interact with one another. The COI emphasizes establishing social, teaching, and cognitive presence within the online environment. Social presence is the element that will enhance teaching and cognitive presence. The aim of social presence is to develop quality interactions between the learner and instructor and learner to learner, essentially building an inclusive learning community. Teaching presence significantly contributes to learner satisfaction and their perceptions of learning. In terms of course design, this presence is established by supporting discourse through making content accessible in various ways, organizing content, and sequencing flow of the course so that learners can move through the four-phase process of cognitively engaging with the content. Finally, to establish cognitive presence, instructors need to consider the amount and quality of content, a mix of various types ofÌýassessments that will be used, and learning activities that will engage and motivate learners to connect to the content in a meaningful way. As you design your online course with these considerations in mind, utilize theÌýUniversal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines to promote a more inclusive learning experience.Ìý

(Permission to publish image received fromÌý)

Questions to Consider:

• How does equity in teaching show up online?
  • What does this look like in terms of the technology being used?
  • What does this look like in terms of an even-playing field (i.e., accessibility of materials, participation expectations, types of assessments, etc.)?
  • How have I applied UDL principles into the design of my course?

Ready to begin the design process? Let’s start with developing strong learning goals and objectives for your course.

Developing Learning Goals, Objectives, and Outcomes

A goal is a general, or broad, statement about the intention of the instruction (i.e., see the target). An objective is more specific about how and to what degree the instruction will affect the learners (i.e., aim for the target). A learning outcome is the result of the learning (i.e., did you hit the target?). We will focus onÌýlearning objectivesÌýto indicate what we want learners to aim for during their learning. As part of the design process, assessments, instructional materials, and learning activities need to align with these objectives to help learners succeed.

Below, is a simple method for writing well-developed learning objectives.

Consider theÌý to writing clear goals and objectives:

1. Audience - Identify and describe the learners (for example, By the end of this course, learners will…)
2. Behavior - Describe what is expected of the learner after the learning occurs
3. Conditions - Describe the setting & circumstances in which the learners’ performance will occur
4. Degree - Explain the standard for acceptable performance

To translate goals into objectives, utilize some of the taxonomies that are available, such asÌý ´Ç°ùÌý.

After goals are written, review them and consider the following:

• What is the overall purpose of the instruction/instructional activity?
• Do the goals and objectives match the instructional intent?
• Are there any specific, observable behaviors the learner should exhibit after they completed the learning?
• What evaluation strategies will be used to determine if goals and objectives are appropriate, and have been met by learners?

In the online environment, it is imperative that instructors share the course learning goals and objectives in a clear and transparent manner from the beginning of the semester. Sharing objectives provides a road map for the learners. As well, unit or weekly goal/objectives should be developed and provided for each week or weekly module.Ìý

Creating Assessments & Checking for Alignment

Now that you have strong learning goals and objectives written for your course, the next step of the process is to createÌý. When you are designing assessments for the course, think about the various types of assessments that could be used throughout the course that are most effective for learning to occur; in other words, learners are able to demonstrate they met the learning objectives. These assessments includeÌý. Familiarize yourself with the Canvas tools within the platform to set up quizzes, rubrics, and the gradebook.

As you create the assessments that you plan to use, can you incorporate low-stake assignments (mini-assignments) that build towards a final paper or cumulative assessment?Ìý How would you logically sequence these assignments throughout the course so that learners are able to understand, practice, and/or correct their mistakes? Designing assessments in this way helps build learner self-efficacy skills (Artze-Vega et al., 2023). As well, to encourageÌý, integrate self-reflection assessments within the semester; for example, have learners reflect on key takeaways from the course and ask how they’ll apply specific concepts in future courses, career, etc.Ìý

In the online environment, instructions for completing assessments need to be clear and the grading criteria needs to be transparent. When aligning assessments to objectives, ask yourself, do the assessments allow learners to successfully meet the learning objectives in an equitable manner?ÌýAdditionally, plan to useÌýclassroom assessment techniques (CATs) that you can integrate into an online environment and ways that you can continuallyÌýgather feedback from your learners and provide feedback for your learners.

Organizing Instruction (Choosing Instructional Materials and Creating Learning Activities)

Seasoned online instructors have learned, often by trial and error, that turning an in-person course to an online course requires thoughtful consideration and a balance between quantity and quality of content. Choosing instructional materials is not much different than what you would do for an in-person classroom. In other words, think about the diversity of voices that are represented as well as the types and variety of resources that you will be using as instructional materials for the course (multimedia such as videos and recordings, visuals such as powerpoint or google slides, open-education resources (OER), textbooks, etc.). Visit theÌý for more information.

Online course designers break down complex topics and scaffold by sequencing a set of related learning experiences that build on each other. The content of the course is released in a strategic manner, allowing online learners to be able to digest the material as well as take a deeper dive either during group work or individually during the semester. The rule of thumb to creating learning activities is to construct tasks that encourage learners to engage authentically in the work (Artze-Vega et al., 2023).Ìý

Here are some ideas to think about as you are in the designing stages of organizing instruction:

• Provide alternate means to access instructional materials
• Create mini-lectures (brief video recordings) and integrate technology such asÌý to encourage active engagement while watching the lecture
• Use Ted talks, and/or other multimedia to supplement or highlight difficult and key concepts
• Plan to use reflection and discussion prompts that allow learners to think deeper about the topics

Learning activities should activate prior knowledge and relevancy to help withÌý (examples might be to use concept mapping tools along with real-life scenarios or case studies to practice application)

Once you complete the initial components of the design process (e.g., analysis, design, develop), the components of implementation and evaluation come next. With that in mind as you continue your journey to being an effective online instructor, are you ready to teach online? Read the next section for tips on how to facilitate in the online modality with a learner-centered approach:

A Note 91´ó»ÆѼ Learner-Centered TeachingÌý

According to Weimer (2013), pedagogical literature has been focused on actions that teachers perform, which tends to connect to teaching but not to learning. In learner-centered teaching, Weimer proposed that instructors are guides and that they facilitate learning rather than authoritatively pass on knowledge. This role of a facilitator focuses less on teaching and more on learning. She suggested thinking about how teaching influences learning and taking learners on a journey. You are their travel advisor in that you share a roadmap and important destinations along the route, you provide advice and point out pitfalls, and you engage them in finding relevant experiences; however, the learners make the actual trek.Ìý

Roles and Responsibilities of a Facilitator:

• Less telling and doing
• Co-learner
• Provide and gather feedback
• Create an inclusive climate for learning
• Provide structure in the design of the course
• Think in terms of sequencing and building experiences
• Do more modeling
• Empower learners

Roles and Responsibilities of Learners in a Learner-Centered Classroom:

• Do more discovering
• Authentically engage in the work
• Learn from their peers
• Accept responsibility for learning
• Empower selves and take ownership
• Develop self-efficacy and self-directed skills
• Develop critical questioning and thinking skills
• Reflect and make meaning of their learning

Visit our Tips for Teaching Online resource for more information.

References:Ìý

• Artze-Vega, I., Darby, F., Dewsbury, B., & Imad, M. (2023).Ìý, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

• Brown, A. H., & Green, T. D. (2020).ÌýThe essentials of instructional designÌý(4th ed.). Routledge.

• Garrison, R. D., & Arbaugh, J. B. (2007). Researching the community of inquiry framework: Review, issues, and future directions.ÌýThe Internet and Higher Education, 10Ìý(3), 157-172.Ìýhttps://doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2007.04.001Ìý

• Intolubbe-Chmil, L., Gupta. K, Crouch, K. & Bacon, J. (2025). Transformative practice for DEIBJA in virtual learning settings. InÌýA. Kim, M. Gallardo & S. Taylor (Eds.),ÌýCultivating DEI Ìýconversations in higher education: An educator's guide to optimizing learning, engagement, and belonging.ÌýRoutledge.

• McKenna, K., Kaiser, L.M.R.,ÌýMurray-Johsnon, K., & Gupta, K. (2025). Inclusive online teaching: A toolkit.ÌýeLearn Magazine,Ìý2025(1).Ìý

• Weimer, M. (2013).ÌýLearner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice. Jossey-Bass.

• Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998).ÌýUnderstanding by design. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.Ìý

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