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Online course design rubrics, standards, and guidelines have been around since shortly after the dawn of online education. These are usually a compilation of research, theory, and the practical experience of veteran online educators.

Personally, I think these are useful. But clearly, given that online education is not yet as successful as we want it to be, we are still figuring this out, especially as we seek more equitable outcomes for online students from disproportionately impacted populations. While online course rubrics may not be blueprints for success, they certainly can help instructors to see their online courses and teaching practices in a new light, and hopefully to make adjustments that will improve the student experience.

As the Manifesto for Teaching Online so pithily states, "There are many ways to get it right online. 'Best practice' neglects context." I completely agree; yet, at the risk of being mildly provocative, I would also say, there are many, many ways to get it wrong. For most faculty, approaching online course design from an intuitive sense of "let me just figure out how to do what I do in the classroom, online" can lead to some significant challenges.

In that sense, online course design guidelines and standards can be seen as offering boundaries that can help instructors get creative, while maintaining some assurance that their efforts will at minimum "do no harm" to students. In a more positive light, personally, I've worked with many faculty who have found that not only do online course design and teaching guidelines help improve their practice of online teaching, but they also feel that they become more effective classroom instructors, too, as they learn to incorporate the guidance.

Becoming familiar with, and fluent with, online teaching guidelines does not happen overnight. The intent here is simply to introduce you to two resources especially recommended for use at LATTC. Engaging in ongoing collegial dialogue about these is important. Sharing what's working - and what's not - with other faculty on the journey is priceless. Attending online teaching workshops and conferences can also be a great help.

LATTC Online Quality Course Guidelines

As stated in the LATTC Online Quality Course Guidelines, they were "developed by the LATTC Distance Learning Committee to help faculty develop and redesign online classes and foster conversation in departments about eﬀective and equity-minded teaching practices in online education."

The Guidelines begin with essential elements required of online classes based on LATTC policy and procedure as per AP 4105.

After that relatively brief initial section, the heart of the Guidelines is a set of recommended practices and examples for online teaching "based on principles for good teaching practice and encouraging equity in online education. [The] list is not meant to be prescriptive or all-inclusive. It includes examples that will vary in their applicability across classes and disciplines, and are offered to encourage creativity and exploration."

The Guidelines conclude by providing three sets of principles for quality, equity-minded online education. These principles were critical to the committee as it developed and organized the the document.

These requirements, practices, and principles comprise the Canvas Checklist which is recommended for all LATTC faculty teaching online to self-check their understanding and compliance in each of their classes.

CVC Course Design Rubric

Compared to LATTC's Guidelines, the CVC Course Design Rubric (originally the "OEI rubric") is a more prescriptive, specific resource designed to be used in course reviews. It has multiple criteria in four areas: Content Presentation, Interaction, Assessment, and Accessibility. While the rubric was originally designed to be used to review online courses being offered for inclusion on the California Virtual Campus Online Education Initiative Course Exchange, many colleges have adopted the rubric for use locally, often through a CVC-certified process called Peer Online Course Review (POCR). LATTC participates in the POCR process and has approved eight courses as of the writing of this Handbook. Though this rubric is not required for general use, it can certainly be a useful self-check tool for faculty designing online classes. It is the basis for the Canvas Checklist mentioned above.

Extending Your Professional Learning

Interested in reviewing other course design/teaching rubrics? There are many, but a few that may be especially useful include:

California State University's QLT Course Review Instrument
State University of New York's Open SUNY Course Quality Review Rubric
Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric

Also recommended: a three part article series comparing and discussing higher education online course design rubrics.

What: Comparing 7 rubrics
So What: Importance and impact of these rubrics
Now What: Recommendations for rubric providers and users