Your Course Template

Your course has been pre-populated with a shell that should work well for many course types and designs. The overview and tips below offer section-specific guidance on how to use and adapt this shell for your course.

Self-paced Coursework

In the provided template, students begin each week with a series of lessons and activities that they complete at their own pace and on their own time, accessed via the Online Campus. This self-paced coursework includes both:

Readings and homework similar to what you would have assigned residentially, and
Elements of asynchronous instruction like videos and discussion boards that replace some of the time you would have spent face-to-face in the classroom.

We've pre-populated spaces for a basic sequence of content and activities that help grab the student's attention and set expectations, build knowledge and skills, provide practice opportunities, and lead into a rich, interactive live session. For more on the theory that supports this sequence, click here.

Weekly Overview (Setting the Stage)

We recommend each week start with some stage-setting to help students understand what they will be learning, why it is relevant, and how they will be learning it. Use the weekly overview section to:

Set clear learning objectives that focus the learner's attention
Explain the value and relevance of this week's material to increase motivation and engagement
Activate prior knowledge to help student integrate new information
Explain the structure and purpose of the learning activities and set clear expectations

This can easily be accomplished with one simple text page, as is configured in our template. However, you might also consider adding a short self-recorded video. A video introduction to the week can help students feel more connected to you, and gives you an opportunity to grab their attention with personal stories and enthusiasm that will motivate students to learn.

Videos and Resources (Building Knowledge)

After you've given students the road map for the week, it's time for them to start learning. In this section, you can provide materials to:

Introduce key vocabulary and facts
Explain core concepts
Contextualize learning with stories and examples
Demonstrate how to perform specific skills
Provide additional perspectives from professionals in the field or alumni

You'll be able to build on this learning in the live session; this initial self-paced work helps lay a foundation of knowledge. To keep learners engaged in this asynchronous learning, we recommend mixing text-based resources with video instruction. You might consider including:

A list of readings from textbooks or course packs that explain core concepts
Hyperlinks to websites, online resources, or existing videos on YouTube or elsewhere for additional instruction, context, or skills demonstrations
Self-recorded videos, including contextualizing lectures, stories, demonstrations, or interviews with guests

This section is highly flexible—you can add as many pages as you need. When including video, follow our best practices for using video in asynchronous online learning, including splitting content into short, manageable segments. If you are covering a lot of ground this week, you might end up with several pages, and that's okay. But remember, keep your learning objectives top of mind and make sure every page has a clear purpose—eliminate extraneous content.

Weekly Assignment (Practice)

Once students have covered the basics, it's time for some practice. This step is critical, as research shows that reading and watching alone are not enough—people learn best by doing. The best online courses include ample opportunities for active learning, even in asynchronous coursework.

Depending on your course, these practice assignments might include:

Problem sets
Short papers
Research projects
Presentations
Self-recorded skills demonstrations
Quizzes

The goal is to have students apply what they've just learned in order to get feedback on how to improve. Think about the learning objectives for the week—what evidence is needed to demonstrate that students have met them? Weekly assignments should generally be low stakes and help students build toward final assessments. Again, feedback is key, and it can be provided in different ways, including:

Autovalidated quiz questions
Peer critique
Group feedback in live session
Individualized instructor review

The provided template is pre-configured with one page in this section, but you can add, edit, or delete to customize it to your needs. We've included an assignment page where students view instructions and submit a deliverable by writing in a text box or uploading a file. This works well for many different practice assignments, but you might replace it with a quiz, a simple text page with instructions, or even a link to a textbook publisher's site.

Weekly Discussion Forum (Processing + Live Session Prep)

In your course shell, we've included a discussion forum toward the end of each week's self-paced coursework. Asynchronous discussion forums can be a great way for students to reflect on the process of learning, process what they are learning with their peers, and get ready for live session. Starting the conversation asynchronously allows students to jump right in at the beginning of live session, helping make the most of your face-to-face time together.

The prompt for this discussion forum is up to you. Some options to consider include:

Ask students to reflect on what they learned or found interesting this week, and what their experience was like with the practice assignments
Provide a practice problem, case, or scenario to analyze and discuss with their classmates
Ask students to identify questions they still have about the week's content and what they would like to review in live session

Be sure to review discussion forum posts in advance of live session, even quickly, so that you can reference your students' posts in class. Showing students that you are reading what they are writing and using their posts to inform your teaching will motivate them to participate. Review additional best practices for discussion forums here.

Reflection (Post-Processing + Metacognition)

As a final activity for the week, we've pre-configured a short reflection at the end of every unit. We recommend having students complete these assignments following the live session to consolidate and individually reflect on their learning for the week. This metacognitive process helps to clarify and solidify newly developed mental models, and encourages students to become more aware of what study habits are most successful for them. Use the pre-populated prompt, or replace it with your own. These reflection assignments should be included as part of the student's participation grade to encourage completion.

Take a minute to think about the weekly self-paced coursework you might create. How will you set the stage? Help students build knowledge? Practice skills? Prepare for live session?

Live Session

Effective, engaging live sessions build on learning from the asynchronous coursework and are more interactive than they are didactic. They provide opportunities for further practice, community building, and real-time feedback on further skills practice. For many teachers, live sessions feel familiar, as they are similar to teaching face-to-face in the classroom. But online, your live sessions might be shorter than your in-person classes, and you need to make the most of your time together with students. Avoid recapping asynchronous readings and videos. Set clear norms and expectations early on. And encourage interaction, discussion, and synthesis of information. Consider the following live session plan template:

Intro: recap learning objectives and set the agenda for live session
- Consider using Zoom polls or icebreaker activities as desired
Concept Review: make sure students understand the core concepts and clarify misconceptions as needed
- Consider assigning students to develop review questions and bring them to class to make this activity interactive and student-led
- Use student performance on asynchronous questions and activities to guide what concepts need clarification in live session
- Provide additional live demos as needed to reinforce key skills
Small Group Work: use breakout rooms to have students practice skills in pairs or small groups
- Rotate around breakout rooms to observe interactions and provide feedback
- Have students pick up and build on practice activities that were begun asynchronously
Class Debrief: have students share out on their small group work activities
Next Steps: end class by teeing up the next week's activities and objectives

Review Synchronous Instruction and Teaching Your Course for more tips and ideas.

Head to Designing for Human Connection to continue designing your course »

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