The Basic Online Course Design Certificate is designed to provide faculty with the fundamental knowledge and skills to design and develop an online course, including the writing of learning objectives and aligning them with assessments and learning activities. Faculty pursuing this certificate will apply what they are learning by designing and developing a full online course through the guidance and coaching of instructional design consultants.
Below you will learn about the certificate requirements, how to enroll in the certificate and associated offerings, how to track your progress, and how your successful completion of the certificate is recognized.
Certificate Requirements
The Basic Online Course Design Certificate requires the completion of the following:
- Introduction to Online Course Design Course
- Online Course Design Experience (three options)
- Course Design and Development Project (15-week project; requires department approval)
- Crafting Your Online Course in Canvas (4-week course)
- Online Course Design Review (4-week process)
- Five credits of elective activities
Introduction to Online Course Design Course
The Introduction to Online Course Design Course has been designed to provide an introduction to the process of designing an online course. As you progress through the course, you will complete modules that provide a theoretical framework for the course design process.
The time commitment for this 2-week asynchronous course is approximately 5-6 hours per week. Participants will experience an online course from the student perspective while interacting with other faculty participants. The course will be facilitated by eCampus Online Faculty Associates. Participants may be eligible for a $250 stipend upon completion.
Basic Online Course Design Experience
The eCampus Online Course Design Experience is intended for faculty to put theory into practice by building an actual online course. There are three options for completing this requirement:
Option A: Full Online Course Design and Development (CDD) ProjectÂ
- Prerequisite: Departmental approval to design a fully asynchronous online course of strategic importance for their department/college.
- The primary goal is the design and development of an asynchronous online course for Boise State University students that meets Quality Matters Standards.
- A 14-week process with instructional design consultant guidance through weekly consultations and the use of a variety of design and development templates.
- Approximately 8 hours per week over the 14 weeks for a 3-credit course.Â
- Faculty will have a complete online course that has been designed to Quality Matters standards, has been reviewed for copyright and accessibility, and is ready for student enrollment. Visit the eCampus Course Design and Development webpage to learn more about CDD projects.
Option B: Crafting Your Online Course in Canvas Course
- Prerequisite: Introduction to Online Course Design Course.
- For faculty interested in developing a new fully online asynchronous course, though there are no plans for this course to be available to students.
- The primary goal is for faculty to learn the fundamental skills and knowledge for designing and developing asynchronous online courses.
- This 4-week course is conducted in Canvas and is offered in the fall and spring semesters. Approximately 5-6 hours per week.
- The course is facilitated by an eCampus instructional design consultant who guides faculty through the development of a course that they designed in the Introduction to Online Course Design Course.
- Participants will have the fully outlined structure of an online course in Canvas as well as one module completely built out, the grade book organized, rubrics and other assessment activities developed, and a welcome announcement and course syllabus drafted.
- Participants may opt to continue to develop the rest of their course after the course period on their own. Instructional Design Consultants may be available to provide consultations upon request. Those who complete the development of their full course may be eligible to have a Quality Matters Review of their course done.
Option C: Basic Online Course Design Review
- Prerequisite: Introduction to Online Course Design Course.
- For faculty who have an asynchronous online course that they developed on their own in Canvas and it has been taught at least once at Boise State.
- The primary goal is for faculty to demonstrate that they possess the fundamental knowledge and skills to design and build an effective and engaging online course.
- Occurs through a structured 4-week process in a Canvas course site and is offered in fall and spring semesters.
- Approximately 2-3 hours per week, though more or less time may be required depending upon the results of the course review and a knowledge check.
- The faculty’s existing course is reviewed using the Basic Online Course Design Rubric. Faculty then meet with a reviewer to discuss course improvements based on gaps identified in the review. In addition to the course review and update process, faculty also complete a knowledge check which assesses basic knowledge related to online course design.
- Participants may opt to further develop and improve their course after the review. Instructional Design Consultants may be available to provide consultations upon request. Those who complete improvements of their full course may be eligible to have a Quality Matters Review of their course done.
Enrolling, Tracking, and Completing Certificates
To enroll in this certificate, go to the eCampus group page in CampusGroups (be sure to log in) and locate the Join Sub-Groups area at the bottom-right corner of the page. Click the relevant checkbox for this certificate to enroll in it. You can then view the requirements for the certificate (as described above) by clicking on Home, then My Activity, then My Checklists.Â
You can enroll in currently scheduled offerings for this certificate, as described above, on our eCampus Faculty Development Event page in CampusGroups. Go to the Event Page, locate the required offerings, and click register. Make sure you are logged in to CampusGroups to see all events.
If a required course for the certificate is not listed, that means it has already been offered this semester. You can contact onlinefacultydevelopment@boisestate.edu to learn when the next offering will be. In the meantime, you are encouraged to participate in elective activities to begin working towards the certificate.
After you complete a course or elective activities for a certificate, your progress will be reflected in CampusGroups. You can view your progress by clicking on the Home button in CampusGroups, and then in the main menu selecting My Activity, then My Checklists.
Updates to the progress can take up to one week to be reflected after completing an activity. If you have a question about your progress, please reach out to onlinefacultydevelopment@boisestate.edu.
Once you complete the final activity for a certificate, you will be notified by the eCampus Faculty Development team. You will then receive an email with a certificate of completion as an attachment. Your achievement of the certificate will then be announced in an upcoming eCampus Update Newsletter. Prior to announcing it in the newsletter, you will be offered the opportunity to opt-out of the announcement.
In addition to your achievement being recognized with a certificate and the announcement in the eCampus Update newsletter, your completion of courses and activities will also be reported to Faculty 180, where appropriate, a tool at Boise State for faculty to collect, organize, and display their research, teaching and service data for the purposes of annual reviews, promotion and tenure.
Once you complete the Basic Online Course Design Certificate, you will be qualified to continue on to the Intermediate Online Course Design Certificate.
Learn more about the Intermediate Online Course Design Certificate