Advancing Online Teaching Practice

The Online Course Development series is an online asynchronous course that will guide participants through a systematic approach to the design and development of online synchronous, online asynchronous, and hybrid courses. Participants will be equipped to make design decisions that support interaction, student engagement, authentic learning and assessment, and meaningful integration of technology. This series will benefit instructors seeking to design or refresh an online or hybrid course.

Within each module, participants will put design strategies into practice by designing and developing different aspects of their course, receiving feedback from peers and instructional designers. By the end of the series, participants will have designed and developed one complete week or module of an online or hybrid course and will use a selection of standards from the OSCQR rubric to conduct a self-review of the week/module developed. Participants who fulfill all course requirements will earn a certificate of completion.

Outcomes

By earning this certificate, you will be able to:

• Utilize a systematic approach to guide course design and development
• Develop measurable learning objectives that include the audience, behavior, condition, and degree
• Design and develop formative and summative assessments that align with learning objectives
• Design and develop learning activities for online or hybrid learning that align with learning objectives
• Incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL), student choice, and/or authentic assessment into content, assessments, and learning activities
• Develop content, learning activities, and course structure for online/hybrid learning
• Create a plan for regular and substantive interaction (RSI)
• Use selected standards from the Open SUNY Course Quality Review (OSCQR) rubric to conduct a partial self-review of your fully developed week/module

Schedule, Time Commitment, and Format

The Online Course Development series is offered in an online asynchronous format. Participants can expect to spend about 3-5 hours per module, including completing structured activities and individual work on courses (approximately 18-30 hours over 6 modules).

The workshop registration system will list any current offerings of this series. Instructional Design and Distance Learning reserves the right to modify the training schedule and offerings based on campus needs, attendance, and availability of Instructional Design and Distance Learning staff.

Prerequisites

Faculty interested in participating in the Online Course Development series should have experience with educational technology, basic computer functions, and should have earned the SUNY DLE Brightspace Fundamentals Certificate or completed Brightspace training.

If interested in learning about the functionality of educational technology, faculty can schedule an appointment to request training on Brightspace, YuJa Enterprise Video Platform, Turnitin, and Microsoft 365. By contrast, the Online Course Development series addresses broader technology skills, pedagogy, and logistics involved in teaching online and hybrid at Buffalo State.

Online teaching continues to evolve as technologies, student needs, and expectations around interaction, accessibility, and course design shift. This four-session webinar series invites experienced online faculty to revisit core teaching and design practices through a contemporary lens.

Across this series, faculty will explore how meaningful interaction (including Regular and Substantive Interaction), assessment in the age of AI, accessibility and Title II, and engaging course design in Brightspace are shaping today’s online learning experiences. Sessions emphasize reflection, practical examples, and informed teaching and design decisions grounded in current practice. 

The workshop registration system will list any current offerings of this series. Faculty can choose to attend particular sessions, or all sessions within the series. Those who attend all sessions can earn the Evolving Online Classroom certificate.

Who should attend

• Faculty who have completed basic online course development training
• Instructors with experience teaching online
• Faculty interested in updating their approaches to assessment, AI, interaction, accessibility, and course design in online courses

What you'll gain

• Updated perspectives on current expectations and practices in online course design
• Practical strategies for making interaction, assessment, and accessibility more intentional and visible
• Design ideas for creating engaging learning experiences in Brightspace
• Opportunities to reflect on and refine your existing online courses with confidence