Online courses have an impact on the development of departments and students' learning opportunities. Therefore, teachers and course organizers must first discuss whether a course is suitable for online teaching and give consideration to the department's overall plans for the future before deciding whether a course can move online.

Before an online course is made available, organizers should have a thorough understanding of NTNU's Online Course Review Guidelines. They are also advised to review the program requirements according to the Operating Procedure for Establishing Online Courses to see whether the course complies with the Ministry of Education's Implementation Regulations Regarding Distance Learning by Universities, i.e., online credit courses shall not account for more than one-third of the minimum number of credits required for graduation. Otherwise, the course structure shall be adjusted (e.g., adding a note stating "online course launch available")

Follow Item 2, Article 4 of NTNU's Course Offering Regulations and the Online Course Review Guidelines, and refer to the Operating Procedure for Establishing Online Courses to proceed with the following steps:

Step1. The course organizer shall submit an Online Course Curriculum Plan and the Online Course Copyright Affidavit to NTNU Online at least one semester before launching the course.

Step2. NTNU Online will review the online curriculum design to ensure that it complies with the Ministry of Education's regulations regarding remote learning and NTNU's Online Course Review Guidelines.

Step3. After being notified that NTNU Online has completed its review, the course organizer can proceed with procedures to launch the course as stipulated in NTNU's Course Offering Regulations. The curriculum must then be approved by the course organizer's course committee and NTNU's Course Committee before being implemented.

Visit the NTNU Online homepage (https://www.co.ntnu.edu.tw/) → Click on "Teacher Resources" in the upper right column → Click on "How to launch an online course?" → See "II、Review Process of Online Courses"  Step.1, and the documents below. Download Online Course Teaching Plan and Online Course Copyright Affidavit.

According to the Ministry of Education's Implementation Regulations Regarding Distance Learning by Universities and e-learning certification criteria, the following design elements must be included in the curriculum plan: 

1. Teaching method(s) and number of weeks (an 16-week semester as example):

(1)  Face-to-face classes: At least 2 weeks.

(2)  Real-time video calls: At least 3 weeks.

(3)  Asynchronous teaching: At least 8 weeks.

2. Learning guidance and counseling measures: 

The contents of units must include lead-ins to help students learn, so that learners can sequentially complete learning tasks by following the lead-ins. Schoolwork counseling measures must also be announced, such as e-mail or office hour, etc.

(1)  Lead-ins and instructions suitable for self-study are provided for at least half of the course's units or weeks.

(2)  Suitable examples are provided for at least half of the course's units or weeks, such as examples in daily life, case studies, and practices.

(3)  Two suitable types of bullet points are provided for at least half of the course's units or weeks.

(4)  A description of schoolwork counseling measures must be provided on the Moodle course website.

3. Teacher-student interaction and student interactions:

To encourage student participation, the curriculum should include interactive elements, such as discussions on designated issues/topics, feedback, peer review, etc.

(1) Teachers and students extensively engaged in high quality discussions on related issues in at least half of units or weeks using asynchronous instruction.

(2) Students extensively engaged in high quality discussions on related issues in at least half of units or weeks using asynchronous instruction.

("Extensive" and "high quality" are determined based on the number of times teachers and students speak, what they say, and the level of interaction in discussions.)

(3) During synchronous instruction, the teacher is able to use at least two interaction methods to guide discussions between learners, such as asking a specific student to answer, giving feedback to presentations or reports, and actively asking questions.

4. Learning effectiveness assessment:

To assess students' learning effectiveness, the curriculum must include some form of evaluation or examination.

Examples include homework, online tests (different types of questions), reports (oral presentation or submitted online), case studies, practices, and posting opinions after class (discussion forum). Examples include number of times teaching materials are viewed on the Moodle platform, number of comments on discussions of certain topic, and number of replies to the comments of others, among other parameters and class records.

(1) The Moodle course website must provide an appropriate description of the ratio and standards of scores for tests, assignments, and learning records.

(2) Suitable assessments or tests are provided for at least half of the course's units or weeks, and contents are consistent with instructional goals to examine learning outcomes.

Teachers and students should make sure that they respect intellectual property rights. When citing other people's work or research in course materials, teachers should prioritize getting the permission of the original author or copyright owner and explicitly state the sources.

Remind students not to copy or send course material files to those who are not taking the course without permission from the author or teacher.

The teacher must notify students taking the course to fill out the Online Course Evaluation Survey during midterms and finals, in order to understand their opinions regarding course contents, instructional activities, and the learning platform. Online questionnaires for the survey will be provided by NTNU Online before the midterms and finals, and reminders will be sent to teachers to administer the questionnaires.

In accordance with Article 10 of the Ministry of Education's Implementation Regulations Regarding Distance Learning by Universities and the periodic Review of Online Learning Efficacy at Institutions of Higher Education, data of online courses (including course materials), synchronous teaching video files, and so forth must be stored on NTNU's Moodle platform for at least 5 years so that they can be used to corroborate past grades and evaluate the efficacy of online courses.

According to Article 9 of the Ministry of Education's Implementation Regulations Regarding Distance Learning by Universities, course instructors must fill out NTNU's Online Course Self-Evaluation Form and provide NTNU Online with proof of course implementation within a month after the course ends to ensure proper quality management of online courses.

In accordance with the Ministry of Education's Online Course Evaluation and Certification Guide, curriculum plans are valid for 5 years. Courses that have exceeded the time limit or undergone major changes that affect over 30% of curriculum content shall undergo the application process once again.

The course instructor and course organizer should discuss whether or not courses will continue being taught online while the teaching plan is still valid.

Please contact Miss Chang from NTNU Online at extension 5504 or ipeggy233@ntnu.edu.tw