Managing your Online Course

• Review the Best Practices and Expectations for Online Instruction.

• Import content from another course.

• Watch this brief video to learn how to import course content

• Adjust the due dates associated with the course events and assignments, as needed

• Update course settings in the D2L course site

  • Decide when and how you want to reveal your course to students.

  • Make your course available in the D2L site with these quick steps

• Create or Revise Start Here/Unit 0 Module. This module should be made available to students one week prior to the first day of class. We recommend you use the CTL course templates.

  • Create or revise a Unit 0 Checklist 

  • Add your Calendar of Due Dates

  • Add your Syllabus

• Create or update your syllabus. Please see this page for more information about what must be included in your course syllabus.

• If not already part of your syllabus, create a Course Schedule to help your students navigate when to do what.

• Create a “Getting to Know You” discussion prompt or other activity that creates a warm, caring and welcoming learning environment.  A sub-module for this activity has been loaded into the Course Introduction Module (in the CTL Start Here Orientation Module). The prompt can be tailored to suit your needs. If you need assistance, please contact us at ctl@neiu.edu

• Create or Update Calendar of Due Dates

• This provides an overview of what assignments are due by what date.

• This is recommended, but not required.

• The CTL has made available customizable course templates for faculty.  The templates include a Course Introduction Module and a Start Here Module.  

• Course Introduction Module. The Course Introduction Module offers students an overview of their course. Faculty are welcome to revise it or hide sub-modules as they meet their needs. That said, we strongly suggest that the instructor includes the following elements.

  • Introduction to the course

  • Welcoming video or message from the instructor

  • Instructor contact information

  • Getting to Know You discussion forum

  • Learning outcomes

  • Syllabus. This is a required element. Please see this page for more information about what must be included in your course syllabus.

• The Start Here Module provides information to help students navigate the D2L site, access a multitude of NEIU student resources, become familiar with expectations for academic integrity, among other aspects relevant to the student experience. Instructors are free to keep or hide some of the D2L tutorials located in this module. However, we do suggest that at least 2 D2L tutorials remain in the module: 1) Setting up Notifications, and 2) How to Navigate D2L. To see an example of how an instructor can orient their student to their D2L course site, please see this brief, faculty-created video explaining the course layout and tips for success. Faculty members can download the templates from the CTL website and import them into their courses, building their courses quickly. If you need help in using the templates, contact Sik Son at sson@neiu.edu . 

• Set up or revise your Gradebook. Using the D2L Gradebook is strongly recommended. Students want to know where they stand in your course. They expect to see their grades posted throughout the semester and not just at the end of their course.

• Set up or revise your Groups, if you want to break down your class into smaller groups for certain learning activities

• Set up or revise your Course Modules. Using a consistent organizational format is recommended. 

• Use consistent naming conventions. The terminology used in a course should be consistent so students are not confused. For instance, if an assignment is called “lab work,” it should be called “lab work” everywhere.  Using “quiz” instead of “assessment” and “group” instead of “team” and providing definitions for non-standard terminology are helpful.

• Hide select class materials from student view. Some faculty prefer upcoming modules be hidden until a certain date. If that is the case, set the dates for when you want students to be able to see your content.

• Set your personal notifications. You can set notifications to be sent to your email or cell phone. You can choose how frequently you will receive these notifications.  

• Contact the CTL Systems Administrator about Third Party Integrations.

• Review Course Content One More Time

  • Review your syllabus and instructor information page

  • Fix broken hyperlinks

  • Update outdated information and images, etc.

• Send students a Welcome Letter or email message using the class list on D2L. We suggest instructors send this initial greeting at least once per week though the first week or two of the class in order to catch any students who enrolled late. 

1. Activate your class so students are able to see it by following the steps in this guide.  

2. Send an email to students who have not yet logged into the course.

See this article on Five Things to Do on the First Day of Class. 

1. Post an announcement telling students what you will be covering that week and reminding them of any due dates.

2. Update your checklist or course calendar with any new or revised due dates, and make active any modules or assignments that you may have previously hidden from students.

3. Grade all assignments and post these grades on D2L. Students appreciate timely feedback on their assignments and will let you know if they feel they are waiting too long! How long it takes to grade assignments and send meaningful feedback to students depends on the nature of the assignment. However, students may not be able to proceed successfully in your course until they get your feedback on how they are doing. Most faculty strive to grade their assignments within one week of an assignment due date. If you anticipate that it will take longer than a week to return student work, it is best to inform them in advance.

4. Summarize discussion forum conversations. This helps students cull out the important points before moving on to other discussions.

5. Hold online office hours. Giving your students a chance to communicate with you in real-time can help build strong relationships and motivate students to fully engage in the class. 

Administering an informal evaluation is a great way to see how your class is going from a student perspective and gives you time to adjust your instruction accordingly. Now is a great time.

How can you do this?

Create a survey in Google Forms and then share out the link on your D2L course site.

Here is a sample introduction you could use for your survey:

"No one is perfect, and that your instructor. Please take a few minutes to provide me feedback so that I can make improvements that enhance our course experience. This survey is autonomous."

Keep your survey simple with questions like these:

• What has been the most helpful for your learning in this class so far?

• What has caused you the most difficulty in this class so far?

• What suggestion(s) can you make that would improve your learning experience in this class?

Be sure to set a deadline for when you want students to complete the survey. Then use their feedback to make adjustments in the second half of your course.

Encourage your students to complete the Student Course Evaluation. Research has shown that the biggest influence on whether a student completes an end-of-class survey is the instructor! Therefore, a note from you encouraging your students to complete the survey and assuring them that the information will be kept confidential and used to improve the course is essential for a high response rate. See information on Student Course Evaluations at NEIU.

1. Post an end-of-class announcement to wrap-up the course. Include a final request to complete the Student Course Evaluation.

2. Handle any deferred grade requests

3. Remind students to download/print any work they want to keep.

4. Post final grades

5. Review and revise your course materials while everything is fresh in your mind. 

• Release grades. If you want students to be able to view their final grades in D2L, you must release them. Follow these instructions. 

• Back up grades. It is a good idea to back up grades, just in case. However, you must be sure to protect student data. We recommend using Google Drive for this purpose, as it is password protected and FERPA-compliant.  If you need training to use the Google Drive, please reach out to clt@neiu.edu

• Handle any deferred grade requests. See Incomplete Grade Policy.

• Remind students to download/print any work they want to keep.

• Post final grades. You will find instructions here.

• Embrace a continuous improvement process. Use student feedback to make changes to your course. While it is fresh in your mind, now is the ideal time to consider what worked well and where there is room for improvement in course content, activities and assessments. We recommend storing a Google document on your Google Drive for this purpose. 

• Reflect on your equity-minded and inclusive practices. Make notes about what you want to change about your course to address equity and inclusion. Don’t know where to begin? Check out these suggestions.

• Reach out to the librarians. If you need help with bringing in readings, videos, audio or images to better represent your students and discipline, don’t forget about the NEIU librarians. You will also find a wealth of resources on our Library’s website. See the Faculty Guide to the Library.

• D2L Gradebook.  Using the D2L gradebook is strongly recommended. Students want to know where they stand in your course. They expect to see their grades posted throughout the semester and not just at the end of their course.

• D2L Groups.  If you want to break down your class into smaller groups for certain learning activities, this is a helpful tool.

• D2L Modules. Reorganize modules to support consistency. For example, consider the following pattern to every module:

1. Module Overview, with a brief description and learning objectives for the module listed, along with how the objectives align with course learning outcomes.

2. Module or Unit Checklist, so students can track completion of what they are required to do in the module

3. Read & Review, a section where required readings, videos, audios and any other content is posted that students review prior to or after the class session 

4. Learning Activity/ies or “You Do” section where students engage in learning activities appropriate for meeting the module objective(s). These may include discussion forums, applied projects, writing activities, lab simulations, etc.

5. Assessment, a formative or summative assessment that aligns with the course objective(s)

6. Assignments and due dates.

You can easily copy your courses from this semester into the course shells for next semester. With just a few tweaks, your course will be ready to go. Here are the step by step instructions:

1. Copy your current course into your course for next semester.  

2. Manage your dates. You can adjust the dates for when assignments are due all at one time using the same pattern and rhythm from the previous semester.