Teaching Online Courses

Supporting eLearners

• Consider Factors Influencing a Learner’s Decision to Drop-Out or Persist in Higher Education Distance Learning.
• Leverage this Welcome Letter Template.
• Download a syllabus checklist and template using Quality Matters standards.
  Note: These resources link to UW-Madison Google App documents and will require a UW-Madison NetID login. Please read our instructions for logging into UW-Madison Google Apps.

For more information on how to support online learners and to review the seven principles of how students learn, visit the Supporting eLearners resources.

Communication & Participation

• Creating effective group discussions and managing instructor workload
• How to motivate students in the online environment
• 30 ways to motivate adult learners

For more information on increasing participation, managing groups, and exploring the various types of communication in an online course, visit the Communication and participation in online courses resources.

Online Discussions

• Try these suggestions for increasing the impact of discussions.
• Question Prompts for Online Discussions
• Review these tips and examples for creating, managing, and evaluating online discussions.
  • Craft a discussion question using the discussion starter worksheet.
  • Designate group roles in online discussions.

For useful tips and information on using different types of online discussions, visit the Online discussions resources.

Course Management Strategies

• Tips for working with online teaching assistants.
• Strategies for managing large online courses.
• Design approaches to discourage dishonesty.
• Also review UW-Madison resources on academic integrity from:
  • Designing activities to discourage plagiarism
  • The Libraries
  • Office of  Student Conduct and Community Standards

For more information on managing time and establishing student policies, visit the Online Course Management Strategies resources.