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Online Course Development

Teaching Commons Instructional Designers and pedagogical experts are available to assist Faculty in all aspects of developing online courses.

Requesting Approval for an Online or Hybrid Course

In 2022, the UCM Academic Senate updated the course approval request process for online and hybrid teaching modalities.The updated request process requires the requestor to complete and submit the Course Modification and Planning Guide (last updated in September 2023) which includes supplemental questions on course design. The overall structure and design of an online course can influence student participation, satisfaction, and learning. To help instructors reflect on their online course proposals, this document was adapted from online course rubrics, evaluation tools, and research. Each section prompts instructors to provide specific examples that demonstrate intentional planning and considerations for the proposed online course. It is highly recommended for the faculty to consult with the Teaching Commons prior to submitting this proposal. Consultations for discussing the supplemental questions can be scheduled using this link.

The Undergraduate Council (UGC) has also implemented a policy specific to Summer Session Online Courses: Summer Session Online Course Policy

Attend a Workshop

Developing an online course is not as simple as taking the content of your in-person course and presenting it on Zoom, or recording your lectures and putting them online. It also, is NOT what happend during COVID with remote instruction. A well developed, student-centerered online course requires reimagining your in-person course and looking at the content through a new lens to understand how your students will consume the content you are sharing. With this in mind, the Teaching Commmons has developed facilitated workshops to help faculty develop rigorous and robust online courses that deliver an excellent learning experience for our students.

Funded Opportunities for Ladder rank Faculty

With generous funding from UC Online, two new workshops for ladder-rank faculty to explore and develop an online course will be offered for the 25-26 Academic Year.

Workshop #1 Reimagine Your Online Course & Design Course Outcomes Workshop- Fall 2025

This workshop, for ladder rank faculty, will cover reimagining the content in your course, broken up into digestible chunks, with continuous assessment of student learning. You will reimagine the course design for the online teaching modality and develop course and module outcomes.

 

Workshop #2: Design, Develop & Implement Your Online Course- Spring 2026

Ready to take  your reimagined course from ideas to delivery online? Apply for this workshop to complete steps for designing, developing and delivering your Online course.  

Opportunities for All Faculty and Instructors

Excellence in Online Teaching Certification Program - early Spring 2026

This workshop for all instructors is held annually in the Spring. 

 

Other Resources

The Teaching Commons has created and curated resources to help you plan, design, develop and teach your online course.

Building a Vision and Course Map.

Backward Design

Using a backward design design approach ensures that course mapping focuses on the outcome of the course and aligns all course components back to those desired outcomes. Learn more about the model and how it works with these resources:

Creating Assessments

  • Educational research questions the assumptions that it is more prevalent or easier to cheat in online exams, read more about Online Education and Authentic Assessment here.

Developing Community and Engagement