Office of IDEAS
- Division of Academic Affairs
- Office of IDEAS
- Center for Faculty Excellence
- Teaching Online
Teaching Online
Adjustments to Fall 2022 Course Schedule per Provost Fu Offering Increased Flexibility with majority of courses in-person
- The Executive Committee of the Academic Senate, by a unanimous vote, has exempted the course certification requirement of APM206 until a new APM206 policy
is adopted.
Instructor certification is still required. Therefore, instructors who are trained to teach online but who have not had their courses approved yet can offer their classes online (DGT CAMP or virtual synchronous). - Online-synchronous classes will be assigned a time slot but not a classroom. Department
DAAs will receive instructions from the Scheduling Office about how to do this in
Peoplesoft.
- If course modality adjustments are needed for the Fall 2022 schedule, chairs need to monitor the overall departmental schedule to keep it within the following constraints:
All departments should have at least 67% of classes face-to-face. The remaining 33% can be a combination of hybrid, hyflex, online-synchronous and DGT CAMP.
Faculty collectively, not individually, make decisions about course modalities with the consideration of curriculum requirements and that freshmen need more in-person courses to enhance engagement to the university.
4. For department chairs: In faculty teaching and service assignment, location of faculty residency is NOT a consideration. The most important criteria for these assignments are curriculum need, accreditation requirement, student success considerations and equity among faculty. The circumstances around these criteria are understandably different across disciplines.
The Executive Committee of the Academic Senate has exempted the course certification requirement of APM206 until a new APM206 policy is adopted.
Instructor certification is still required. Therefore, instructors who are trained to teach online but who have not had their courses approved yet can offer their classes online (DGT CAMP or virtual synchronous).
If you have never been formally trained to teach online, review your options below.
If you have gone through training at another institution, use this link to upload a Certificate of Completion and a justification.
Professional Development Courses through CSU Online Course Services (CSU-OCS)
The CSU Quality Assurance team at the Chancellor's Office offers free courses to help faculty enhance their online teaching using the Quality Learning & Teaching framework, which we have adopted here at Fresno State.
These courses are 3-weeks long, online, asynchronous, and require 15-20 hours with a structured course schedule and due dates that must be followed.
For more information regarding professional development courses and to register for
classes, visit the CSU-OCS site.
Course Descriptions through CSU Online Course Services
Introduction to Teaching Online (Q1)
For faculty new to teaching online using the CSU QLT rubric. Content includes orienting
students to the online course, setting up the structure and navigation, designing
online modules for content delivery and engagement, developing discussions, developing
assessment tools, and using technology tools.
Reviewing Courses Using the QLT Rubric(Q2)
Ideal if you have prior knowledge and familiarity with QLT and plan to review courses
seeking QLT certification. Participants will engage in hands-on experiences using
the QLT objectives to rate elements of a sample course, learn how to write helpful
recommendations, and discuss examples for setting up a peer-review process on their
campus.
Advanced QLT Course in Teaching Online (Q3)
Participants will complete a QLT Core-24 self review on their own course for reflection
and to identify areas of improvement and will produce a final project showcasing three
course changes made in the course while completing the training. Faculty will need
to have a partially or fully developed online/hybrid course is required prior to registration.
This spreadsheet contains the names of faculty who have successfully completed the approved listed training and are certified to teach online at Fresno State according to the APM 206 Policy.
To search for the name of a faculty within each of the tabs below, click "Control F" (or Command-F) and type in a name.
Q: Does the Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT) online training mean that we no longer have any training in the Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) for online teaching?
A: CFE provides walk-in and by appointment instructional design support for faculty to redesign courses and leverage the QLT rubric as a tool to improve courses. Please contact CFE to set up an appointment.
Q: Is the QLT training entirely online?
A: Yes. It is approximately 15-20 hours of online learning activities over a three week period.
Q: I'm assuming the APM 206 requirements for faculty to be trained would be fulfilled through the QLT Introduction to Teaching Online course?
A: Faculty who successfully complete the online training through the Chancellor’s Office (QLT Q1, Q2, or Q3 course or equivalent) will be added to the List of Trained Faculty. If your name is not listed and you have been trained, complete this Verification of Training Form for our records.
Q: I already successfully completed a training to teach online at a community college or other institution. Do I have to take another course?
A: If you have completed training at a different institution, complete this Verification of Training Form so that it may be reviewed.
Best Practices for Online Teaching
The online instructor is faced with learning new technologies, introducing new technologies to students and building a sense of community, usually without any face-to-face contact. Needless to say, the online instructor must focus on how students and faculty communicate and the tools that they use to communicate. These best practice resources have been selected to assist the online instructor in creating a successful online environment.
Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online
(taken from The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips, by Judith V. Boettcher and Rita-Marie Conrad)
- Be present at the course site.
- Create a supportive online course community.
- Share a set of very clear expectations for your students and for yourself as to (1) how you will communicate and (2) how much time students should be working on the course each week
- Use a variety of large group, small group, and individual work experiences.
- Use synchronous and asynchronous activities.
- Early in the term - about week 3, ask for informal feedback on "How is the course going?" and "Do you have any suggestions?"
- Prepare discussion posts that invite responses, questions, discussions, and reflections.
- Focus on content resources and applications and links to current events and examples that are easily accessed from learner's computers
- Combine core concept learning with customized and personalized learning.
- Plan a good closing and wrap activity for the course.
CSU Online Course Services Quality Assurance Resource Repository (QuARRy)
QuARRy is a collection of online-blended-flipped teaching exemplars collected from
participants in the CSU Quality Assurance program.
TOP 10 Commonly Missed QLT Core Objectives (PDF)
Through a formal review of 43 CSU QLT online courses that received formal certification
using the 2nd. Edition (2017) of the QLT rubric, the following CORE objectives have
been identified as the most commonly missed upon 1st review (e.g. 5.6 is the most
& 4.3 is the least missed). The instructor should preview these to ensure they have
been met before submitting their course toward formal QLT course certification.
ACUE’S ONLINE TEACHING TOOLKIT
https://acue.org/online-teaching-toolkit/
ACUE'S INCLUSIVE TEACHING PRACTICES TOOLKIT
https://acue.org/inclusive-teaching-practices-toolkit/
The Power of Asynchronous Video
Seven articles that discuss the benefits of asynchronous video in teaching
How Much Work Should I Assign in an Online Course?
Credit Hour Equivalents
45 hours of instruction for a 3-unit course. This does not include the additional
hours for activities such as reading, reflective writing, and assignments. CSU Credit Hour Policy
Hybrid I as 10-49% distance-education. Up to 10% 4.5 hours online activity
Hybrid II as 50%-99% distance-education. Up to 49% of 22.05 hours of online activity
ONLINE: 100% of the course is offered online. 45 hours of online activity
- Helpful tools for estimating workload -
Reading time calculation tools
How much work should we assign?
What is Regular and Substantive Interaction?
Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) is the legal federal requirement for distance education courses and is defined
as taking place on a “predictable and scheduled basis” and “substantive” means students
are engaged through teaching, learning, and assessment. This includes at least two
of the five activities:
- providing direct instruction;
- assessing or providing feedback on a student’s course work;
- providing information or responding to questions about the content course or competency;
- facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency;
- or other instructional activities approved by the institution’s or program’s accrediting agency.
How does CSU Online Course Services Support RSI?
How QLT Supports RSI
The QLT Rubric provides objectives to guide and support the design and delivery of
an online course. The QLT Rubric can be leveraged by faculty, instructional designers,
departments and institutions to also improve and update existing online courses. Throughout
the QLT Rubric there are many objectives that support regular and substantive interaction
(RSI) between the student and the instructor. See below select QLT objectives that
meet the RSI legal federal requirement for distance education courses.
At the beginning of the semester you may find the QuARRy examples with an *asterisk especially helpful for engaging students and creating a sense of community/belonging.
The Quality Assurance Resource Repository (QuARRy) is a collection of online and hybrid teaching exemplars collected from participants in the CSU Online Course Services program. Organized by the CSU Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT) rubric and the Quality Matters (QM) rubric, the repository exemplars inform and assess the design and delivery of online and hybrid courses.
Section 1: Course Overview and Introduction
*Objective 1.4 Online course etiquette expectations across relevant communication
and dialog modalities (e.g., email, chat, online discussion forums, messaging threads)
are presented and clear to the student, addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Objective 1.7 The instructor provides samples of student work and provides opportunities for students to ask questions. These are in addition to email inquiries, office hours, or individual appointments.
*Objective 1.8 Instructor asks students to share or reflect on their own learning goals.
Section 2: Assessment of Student Learning
Objective 2.6 Throughout the semester, the instructor provides multiple opportunities to solicit
feedback from their students about their learning and on the course for the improvement
of the course.
Section 4: Student Interaction and Community
*Objective 4.2 Instructor provides information about being a successful learner/student.
Objective 4.5 The modes and requirements for student interaction are clearly communicated.
*Objective 4.6 Instructor clearly explains their role regarding participation in the course. Instructor participates, facilitates student participation, and encourages students to take ownership and promote different points of view.
Section 5: Facilitation and Instruction
*Objective 5.1 The instructor is helpful in normalizing a culturally responsive and sustainable
and/or critical lens on course topics, respecting culturally diverse expressions while
addressing microaggressions or disrespectful comments.
*Objective 5.2 The instructor clearly helps students make connections between the content and the course activities, and how their life experience and mastery of concepts gained in the course will integrate into their college degree, future career, and role as a global citizen.
*Objective 5.4 The instructor empowers students with choices to encourage the exploration of new concepts and new perspectives through the course experience.
*Objective 5.5 The instructor helps to focus discussion/interaction on relevant issues. Instructor also provides how microaggressions (e.g.,intentional or unintentional negative attitudes toward marginalized groups) or disrespectful comments in the course discussions will be addressed.
Objective 5.6 The instructor demonstrates commitment to students’ learning by providing clear feedback in a timely manner.
Objective 5.7 The instructor provides communication in multiple formats to students about important goals and course topics as opportunities arise, enunciating respect to students' diverse identities, backgrounds and cultures.
*Objective 5.9 The course resources, student tasks, activities, assessments, and instructional strategies build upon students’ individual strengths and assets as it pertains to their cultural and linguistic backgrounds and funds of knowledge.
Section 7: Learner Support and Resources
Objective 7.1 The instructor states their role in the support process and what type of things they
can support.
Section 8: Accessibility and Universal Design
Objective 8.1 Course design and activities enact the core principles of Universal
Design for Learning by incorporating multiple means of representation, action and
expression, and engagement. Accessibility is therefore embedded in the course design
rather than a reactive accommodation for those with registered disabilities
Section 9: Course Summary and Wrap Up
*Objective 9.1 The instructor provides students opportunities to ask questions as
a form of closure and to foster insight into accomplishments.
Objective 9.2 The instructor provides students with feedback about their overall learning and progress and their experiences of the term.
*Objective 9.3 The instructor provides opportunities for students to reflect on their learning and connect their individual learning goals with the expectations (stated learning objectives and outcomes) of the instructor.