Best Practices for Online Teaching - Center for Teaching Excellence

Orienting Students to the Course

Include a welcome message and post instructor information
Consider syllabus quiz where students must go to the syllabus to find important course information, expectations and policies
Includes icebreaker activity, such as “fun fact sharing” or “your favorite hobby”

Create inviting homepage with minimal information
Use Modules to organize content by week or theme
Use consistent naming in Modules (i.e. week 1, week 2, etc.)
Narrow course navigation menu items
Standardize page layouts so they remain consistent
Embed multimedia (videos, slides, articles) to minimize external links
Reiterate assignment deadlines and important dates throughout course (i.e. on syllabus, modules, pages, quizzes, etc.)

Use short and focused videos (3-10 minutes)
Provide frequent low-stake quizzes and consider providing immediate and constructive feedback
Provide applied or real-world application on assignments, quizzes or discussions
Consider self-assessments for students to reflect on their grade and learning progress
Set up group projects for collaboration, communication and accountability
Consider “peer review” assignments to enhance collaboration
Create a variety of interactive discussions in small student groups
Post weekly announcements including a short video to summarize last week assignments and encouragement
Emphasize you are accessible though virtual office hours/email, etc.
Provide personalized feedback on assignments (consider video feedback!)
Send early (direct) messages to disengaged students or students at risk of failing

Create a “Meet your Instructor Page” (short biography, teaching philosophy, short video introduction)
Personalized welcome message (i.e. recorded video or welcome announcement)
Engage in regular (weekly) announcements to recap assignments and introduce an upcoming assignment (module, reminders, tips for success, etc.)
Active participation in discussions (i.e. asking follow-up questions, posting responses, etc.)
Prompt feedback on assignments and/or discussion posts (video preferred when possible)