Online Instruction Resources
Resources of online learning
About Online Courses
The Online Environment
- The Babson Survey Research Group has been providing reports about the online environment in higher education for more than a decade. Register to download the February 2016 report.
- Noel- Levitz provides reports about college student satisfaction on a variety of topics. Register to download the recent 2014-2015 National Online Learners Priorities Report.
- Ralston-Berg, P. (2012). The blog provides a summary of the top five elements according to students based on a large-scale study done at the University of Wisconsin Extension.
- Nguyen, T. (2015). The Effectiveness of Online Learning: Beyond No Significant Difference and Future Horizons. MERLOT: Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 11(1), 309-319.
For more information about the increase and quality of online education and a table showing benefits of online education for administrators, instructors and students, visit The online environment resources.
Transitioning to the Online Environment:
- 5 of the most important actions instructors can take
- 5 key transition points from real to virtual classrooms
- 5 suggestions for how [not] to design an online course
For more information on creating an effective online learning experience, visit the Transitioning to the online environment resources.
Online Instructor Roles
- Consider the seven principles of effective teaching.
- Ways to accomplish the four roles of the online instructor.
- What is a myth about online course development?
To further explore the four roles of an online instructor, visit the Online instructor roles resources.
Designing Online Courses
Course Planning
- Plan using the course map template and unit worksheet.
- Tips for how to chunk course content for eLearning.
- Create a Quality Matters account to access rubric and course review tools.
- Coordinate a course rhythm using templates.
For more information on planning a quality online course, visit the Course planning resources.
Learning Objectives & Alignment
- Build an objective using the interactive UW-Madison Objective Builder.
- Learn more in this lesson about Writing Measurable Objectives.
- Review the wealth of resources about Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy.
- Utilize the UW-Madison tips and examples for writing learning goals.
For more information on writing measurable learning objectives, visit the Learning objectives and alignment resources.
Assessment & Measurement
- Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) in online courses.
- Authentic tasks to assess student learning.
- Utilize the UW-Madison suggested course assessment tools.
To explore assessment strategies and view examples of diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments, visit the Assessment and measurement resources.
Instructional Materials
- Download a syllabus checklist and template using Quality Matters standards.
Note: These resources link to UW-Madison Google App documents and will require a UW-Madison NetID login. Please read our instructions for logging into UW-Madison Google Apps. - Review UW-Madison’s complete guide to creating and selecting accessible course materials.
- Open Educational Resources (OERs)
- Start with this introduction to Open Educational Resources.
- Search the multitude of Open Educational Resources.
- Review in-depth strategies on how to integrate Open Educational Resources.
- Copyright Resources:
- Review UW-Madison Library copyright and fair-use resources.
- Think through fair use decisions with this useful tool.
- Comply with copyright and fair-use guidelines (Blended Toolkit).
- View the Examples of Instructional Materials table to explore examples and resources for various instructional materials.
For more information about instructional materials commonly used in online courses, visit the Instructional materials for online courses resources.
Course Activities & Learner Interaction
- Absorb, Do, and Connect activities and examples
- Variety of online activity descriptions, strategies, and examples
- Suggestions for how to make learning online active
- Develop instructions using the online activity worksheet.
For more information on the types of interaction and activity frameworks used in online courses, visit the Course activities and learner interactions resources.
Teaching Online Courses
Supporting eLearners
- Consider Factors Influencing a Learner’s Decision to Drop-Out or Persist in Higher Education Distance Learning.
- Leverage this Welcome Letter Template.
- Download a syllabus checklist and template using Quality Matters standards.
Note: These resources link to UW-Madison Google App documents and will require a UW-Madison NetID login. Please read our instructions for logging into UW-Madison Google Apps.
For more information on how to support online learners and to review the seven principles of how students learn, visit the Supporting eLearners resources.
Communication & Participation
- Creating effective group discussions and managing instructor workload
- How to motivate students in the online environment
- 30 ways to motivate adult learners
For more information on how to increase participation, manage groups, and explore the various types of communication in an online course, visit the Communication and participation resources.
Online Discussions
- Try these suggestions for increasing the impact of discussions.
- Question Prompts for Online Discussions
- Review these tips and examples for creating, managing, and evaluating online discussions.
- Craft a discussion question using the discussion starter worksheet.
- Designate group roles in online discussions.
For useful tips and information on how to use different types of online discussions, visit the Online discussions resources.
Course Management Strategies
- Tips for working with online teaching assistants.
- Strategies for managing large online courses.
- Design approaches to discourage dishonesty.
- Also review UW-Madison resources on academic integrity from:
For more information on managing time and establishing student policies, visit the Course management strategies resources.