Online Course Review Toolkit

Created by Leah MacVie for Canisius College

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The Canisius College Online Course Review

Tool was developed to help instructors

evaluate their online courses. This checklist

addresses best practices for delivery and

management as well as Jesuit values that

should also be infused in all of our courses.

Simply make a copy of this tool for each

course and check the boxes in each field to

assess your course.

Clarity Placement Relevance

Provide clear

directions from

the student

perspective are

provided.

Categorize

content items

under goals or

objectives.

Educate

students to

understand how

content meets

objectives. Goals and

Objectives

1

Course Set-Up

Announcements Calendar Introduction Content Folders Q+A

Post

announcements at

least weekly that

culminate the

previous week

and prepare them

for the upcoming

week.

List when weeks

begin and

assignments are

due on the course

calendar.

You may also

utilize a

secondary

calendar to

propose a

working

schedule.

Post a welcome

with contact info,

a syllabus,

course

expectations, and

an

ice breaker

discussion.

Respond to each

introduction

posted.

Content folders

house a weekly

introduction with

checklist and the

week’s downloads,

discussion

activities, and

assessments.

Create a question

and answer forum

to house all

questions and

answers for your

course.

2

Preparation

Readiness Directionals Course Design Completion Rubrics

Students are

prepped to learn

online including

netiquette,

technology

requirements,

technology

support links, and

content

support.

Provide thorough

directions that

allow students to

easily navigate

through the course.

Course design is

consistent from

week to week,

content is chunked

vs. exposed all at

once, also items

are clearly labeled.

Students know

what they must do

to complete the

course through

clear grading

policies, checklists,

and final

product(s) they can

add to their

portfolio.

Display rubrics

before discussions,

assignments, and

assessments and

use to provide

feedback.

3

3 Types of Interaction

Student to Student Student to Instructor Student to Content

Provide the opportunity for

students interact with each

other through

collaboration, discussion, and

debates. Critical thinking is

asked for in terms of design

and interaction. Encourage

students to share different

perspectives and experiences

with the group.

Be constantly present in the

course. Get to know each

student through

mentoring and coaching.

Inspire each student to

develop individually through

the content.

Students interact with the

content through a variety of

mediums. Digital literacy,

Internet and technology,

downloadable files, audio,

video and simulations are

integral parts of the course.

4

Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm

Context Experience Reflection Action Evaluation

Make Cura

Personalis, care for

the whole person,

a constant theme

in the course,

allowing the you to

understand the

world of the

learner so you can

best teach the

content in a way

that it applies to

the students’

situation.

Create conditions

that include the

students’ past

experiences so

they consider the

whole of those

experiences

(feelings, insights,

conclusions) in

their new

learnings.

Guide students

through thoughtful

reflections about

the content and

their thoughts of it.

In the process,

they will learn

more about how

they learn.

Provide

opportunities that

challenge the

imagination and

compel students to

take action and

create positive

change.

Include basic

levels of evaluation:

quizzes, tests,

projects, but also

assess the students’

well-rounded

growth in the

content area and

synthesis of it.

5

Various Modalities

Delivery Assignments ADA UDL

Students are able to

read,

listen to, or watch

the content.

Students have

autonomy when

creating

assignments, such

as choosing to

incorporate

writing,

technology or

research.

Closed-captions,

transcripts, and alt-

text is used to help

those with

disabilities access

the content.

Differentiated

delivery methods

help learners to

choose their

preference for

learning the

material.

6

Tech Support Assignments

Students know how to

find help with

technology issues.

Course contains links

to the help desk,

tutorials, and

resources.

Students know how to

find answers to content

related questions.

Course contains links

to the tutoring center. Support

7

Maintenance

Feedback Updates

Students are able to provide

feedback at multiple points in

the course. Feedback is applied

to make the course better.

The course is thoroughly

checked and maintained to

provide current and trending info

as well as to fix broken links and

missing files.

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References

• California State University. (2012). Rubric for online instruction. Retrieved from http://www.csuchico.edu/celt/roi/

• California State University. (2012). Rubric for online instruction. Retrieved from http://www.csuchico.edu/tlp/resources/rubric/rubric.pdf

• Online Course Development Guide and Rubric. (2012).Online course development guide and rubric. Retrieved from https://files.pbworks.com/download/kSCH3EFBns/ablendedmaricopa/1240547/LEC_Online_course rubric.pdf

• Las Positas College. (2012). Best practices in designing online courses. Retrieved from http://lpc1.clpccd.cc.ca.us/lpc/blackboard/best_practices/

• Delich, P. (2012). Online course rubric . Retrieved from http://elearningnetworks.com/materials/OnlineCourseRubric.pdf

• Wells, M. (2006). Hcc online course evaluation rubric july, 2011. Retrieved from http://de.hccs.edu/Distance_Ed/DE_Home/faculty_resources/PDF's/OnlineCourse_EvaluationRubric_09.pdf

• Ekhaml, L. ,& Roblyer, M. D. (2000). A rubric for assessing interaction in distance learning. Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/roblyer32.html

• none listed. (2012). Online course evaluation rubric. Retrieved from http://raleighway.com/raleigh/online/OnlineCourseEvaluationRubric.pdf

• Garrett College. (2012). Gc online course checklist. Retrieved from http://www.garrettcollege.edu/bb_support/course_checklist.pdf

• Creighton University. (2012). Online course design review rubric. Retrieved from http://www.creighton.edu/fileadmin/user/online-learning/docs/Online_Course_Design_Rubric_AADEC_3-28-08__2_.pdf

• Yuba Community College District. (2012). Grading rubric for initial discussion posting. Retrieved from http://de.yccd.edu/Data/Sites/1/userfiles/gradingrubric_discussion.pdf

• Inver Hills Community College. (2012). Online course peer review rubric. Retrieved from http://www.inverhills.edu/online/faculty/peerreview/OCPR.Rubric.pdf

• Peirce, W. (2003). Metacognition: Study strategies, monitoring, and motivation. Retrieved from http://academic.pg.cc.md.us/~wpeirce/MCCCTR/metacognition.htm

• Kolvenbach, P. (2005, September). Jesuit education and ignatian pedagogy. Retrieved from http://www.ajcunet.edu/Distance-Education---Ignatian-Pedagogy

About this Tool

• This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us.