The document discusses the evolution and management of online course development in higher education, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It emphasizes the importance of formalizing digital learning initiatives, centralizing operations, and establishing clear roles and responsibilities to enhance course quality and consistency. Key considerations include faculty roles, compensation, intellectual property, and adherence to standards for online course evaluation and accessibility.

1. Establishing and Managing
Institution-Wide
Online Course Development
Anthony Piña, Ed.D.
Illinois State University
Susan Wegmann, Ph.D.
Southern Illinois University

2. Typical Genesis of
Online Education
(prior to COVID)
Noticed by administrators
Policies, procedures and processes
Courses begin to be grouped
Concentrations, minors, certificates & degrees
Individual faculty put courses online

3. COVID-19 Effects
Accelerating or changing institutional mission &
culture regarding online/digital learning
Formalizing digital learning initiatives
Hiring chief online officers
Centralizing digital learning operations

4. Managing
Online
Development
Process
• Allows the institution to:
• Scale the development of online courses
• Better align individual courses to
program-level learning outcomes
• Contain development costs
• Eliminate redundancies in the curriculum
• Create a more consistent experience for
online learners

5. One size does not fit all

6. Decision Making Framework
Component Decision Item
Environment  Internal or external development
 Centralized or decentralized development
Roles and
Responsibilities
 Faculty roles
 Scope of work, compensation & intellectual property
 Instructional designer roles
Standards and
Evaluation
 Minimum Standards
 Evaluation & Approval of Online Courses
Operations  Classification of Course Development Types
 Curriculum Mapping
 Independent or Guided Design
 Accessibility

7. Environment
Internal or external
development
• Run online program from
within
• Online program
management (OPM) firm
Centralized or decentralized
development
• Centralized - Personnel
and resources available to
all; institution-wide vision
• Decentralized - Personnel
and resources siloed

8. Roles and Responsibilities
Faculty roles
• Autonomous
• Partnership
• Team-based
Instructional designer roles
• Autonomous - optional
• Partnership - mandatory
• Team-based – mandatory
• True partner or
subordinate?
• Nonexistent?

9. Roles and Responsibilities
Scope of work
• Conditions to
consider the
work complete
Compensation
• Normal job
duties
• Release Time
• Stipend
Intellectual
property
• Who “owns”
the course?
• Work-for-hire
• Shared
ownership

10. Standards and Evaluation
Minimum Standards
• Quality Matters, OSCQR,
Blackboard, AECT
• Internal
Evaluation and Approval of
Online Courses
• Faculty/peer
• Evaluation committee
• Autonomous (no
evaluation)

11. Operations • New course development
• Course redevelopment
• Partial course redevelopment
• Blended/hybrid development
• OER development
Classification of Course
Development Types

12. Operations
• Course “blueprint”
• Aligns course outcomes to
program-level outcomes
• Aligns lesson outcomes to
course outcomes
• Aligns assessments to
outcomes
• Aligns on-ground and online
courses
• Facilitates curriculum review
and updates
Course/Curriculum
Mapping

13. Operations
• Independent
• Template (empty) shell
• Template “master” course
Independent or Guided
Design

14. Operations
• Federal Title II regulations &
guidelines
• Universal Design for Learning
• Advocacy groups have
successfully pursued legal
action against higher ed
institutions
Accessibility

15. Leaders have a
choice…
• Make decisions about
these items before
problems arise
or
• Be forced to make
decisions later
(likely under duress)

16. Questions?
Anthony Piña
aapina@ilstu.edu
Susan Wegmann
susan.wegmann@siu.edu