This document provides 10 tips for designing online and hybrid courses. The tips include enhancing course navigation and structure, providing a thorough course orientation, creating an online community, aligning the course objectives and activities, utilizing engaging content from various tools and media, varying assessments and feedback, saving in-class time for hybrid courses, using tools for 24/7 collaboration and reflection, and taking advantage of student evaluation tools for retention. The tips are meant to help instructors start students off on the path to success and create measurable outcomes through aligned objectives, activities, and assessments in online and hybrid course design.

1. Ten Tips for Designing
and Supporting
Online and Hybrid Courses
Instructor:
Deborah Turner

2. Tips for Designing Online Courses

3. Tip 1: Enhance Your Course Navigation
and Structure
First
Second
Organize your content by weeks or use modules
Create a separate button or area for the current week’s work
Third
Specify due dates and/or a course timeline
Fourth
Identify which activities are required
versus recommended
Fifth
Customize your course with colors, themes and
a banner

4. Tip 2: Provide a Thorough Course Orientation
Your course orientation starts the student off on
the path to success
Examples of what it should contain:
Instructions
for the steps
in the
orientation
Requirement
to review the
syllabus
Course
navigation
Online
etiquette
expectations
Rubrics for
assessments
Blackboard
and technical
support
information

5. Tip 3: Create an Online Community
Post weekly Announcements as the course
start page – staying fresh and connected
Add an instructor introduction –
a picture or video
Have student introductions
Create engaging discussions
with current topics

6. Tip 4: Put Your Course in Alignment
Create measurable course objectives
that describe outcomes
(define, list, compare, match, construct
)
Provide instructions to students
how to meet these objectives
The learning activities should
directly contribute to the
achievement of the objectives
Use assessments that measure
students’ mastery of the objectives

7. Tip 5: Utilize Engaging Content
Use tools and multimedia for different learning styles:
•
•
•
•
Add audio and video to
PowerPoint
Put YouTube videos in your
course to enhance learning
Use SoftChalk and
StudyMate Activities
Create a course tour with
Camtasia

8. Tip 6: Vary Assessments and Feedback
Creating different types of
assessments
• Provide self-check
assessments
• Timely feedback to
students
•
Use rubrics
• Use the chat tool for
office hours
• Post an end-of –semester
survey
•

9. Tips for Designing
Hybrid Courses

10. Tip 7: Provide Information
for New Online Learners
Hybrid students may be new to the
online environment
Use the Discussions for students to
post questions
Provide links to Blackboard tutorials
Have extra instructions about
working in the online classroom

11. Tip 8: Save In-Class Time
• Post
course content
• Provide supplemental materials
• Use the calendar as reminders and linking to
assignments
• Use the announcements for
up-to-date information

12. Tip 9: Use Tools for 24/7
Collaboration and
Reflection
Collaboration
Wikis and
chat room
Reflection
Blogs and
journals

13. Tip 10: Take Advantage of the Student
Evaluation Tools for Retention
•
The Performance Dashboard
•
The Retention Center
Course Reports
•

14. These Ten Design Tips Can be
Expanded and Offered in a Workshop Series:

15. •Sources of Information
3 Tips for Writing Measurable Objectives – The Learning Curve at
http://www.learninghouse.com/blog/publishing/3-tips-for-writingmeasurable-objectives
Quality Matters – Applying the QM Rubric –
www.qualitymatters.org
7 Tips for Teaching Hybrid classes – Faculty Focus at
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/asynchronous-learningand-trends/seven-tips-for-teaching-hybrid-courses/
Embedding YouTube Video into PowerPoint 2010 – Ron
Bosch - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V0gm98Xj4g