Online Course Implementation Rubric

In order to meet this federal regulation, the instructor must regularly and directly engage with learners through a variety of strategies, such as announcements, feedback, discussions, synchronous sessions, messages, etc. While weekly communication may suffice to meet this Standard, the frequency of communication should increase in abbreviated terms.

In order to meet this federal regulation, instructor communication must be substantive in nature. The instructor’s cognitive presence in the course should prompt learners to think critically, advance higher-order thinking, and focus their efforts on meeting the stated outcomes. This practice is evidenced in a variety of ways, for example, regularly scheduled synchronous activities that are content-focused, group work where the instructor is actively engaged with the learners, responding to student discussions by expanding or deepening existing commentary, guiding learners toward more focused self-directed learning, and/or announcements and messages that are content-related. To meet these federal guidelines, these interactions should be completed by the instructor or a qualified lecturer and not the teaching assistant or other students. 

The instructor’s teaching presence in the course media should offer direct instruction, demonstrate their professional and experienced perspective on the course material and assignments, and model expert thinking and engagement with discipline-specific content. This Standard can be evidenced in a variety of ways, including providing specific examples of professional experiences, clarification of complex content, recommendations for study or research practices, anecdotes that demonstrate their enthusiasm for the subject matter, and synthesis or evaluation of theories.

The instructor cultivates a sense of belonging and community through the creation of a safe, positive, and accepting environment. This is often achieved through the instructor’s social presence and humanness in the course. Engaging with and actively seeking all students’ input and respectfully negotiating academic and personal differences is important for the instructor’s role. This Standard can be evidenced through a variety of strategies, such as promoting awareness of varying perspectives and experiences, frequently using learners’ names, encouraging learners to voice questions and concerns, demonstrating concern for and being responsive to learner needs, using inclusive pronouns (we, they, you, our), scaffolding instruction, creating intentional spaces for social engagement, demonstrating a strong desire for student success, guiding learner-to-learner interaction and group work, seeking learner input, promoting and supporting a culture of academic integrity, offering student choice, affirming individual and collective performance, and nurturing learners’ growth mindsets. 

Prompt feedback is a powerful impetus for learning. Useful feedback may take a variety of forms, including automated responses or manual comments. Instructor feedback should be meaningful, help learners move toward meeting the stated learning outcomes, direct learners to related support resources, reflect a supportive tone, and affirm strong learner performance.

Grades and feedback should be provided via Canvas promptly, within the timelines defined within the course syllabus, and reflect the criteria specified within the assignment descriptions and associated rubrics.

The instructor replies to learner emails and messages in a timely manner based on the policies defined in the course syllabus. They are flexible and responsive to learner needs, supplementing course content as needed. Instructor responses are clear, appropriate, utilize a positive, supportive tone, and model effective communication techniques and expected netiquette.

Course observers may not be able to view instructor responses to learner inquiries. In those cases, consider asking the instructor to provide examples of how they have met this Standard.