Partnering with First Year Writing, eCampus has developed this microcredential to help faculty who teach online courses that involve writing to do so more strategically and effectively. This microcredential will guide you to better design writing assignments so that your students become more effective and flexible writers within your discipline. You will also learn to strategies for formative and summative feedback. By time you complete this microcredential, you’ll be able to:
- Identify the functions of writing in online courses (writing to learn, writing to engage, etc.).
- Identify effective strategies for teaching writing online, including asynchronous and synchronous methods.
- Recognize the importance of building a supportive and engaging online learning community for writers.
- Assess student writing and provide constructive and meaningful feedback on student writing in an online environment.
- Utilize online tools and technologies to enhance writing instruction.
- Recognize writing as a series of processes.
Below you will learn more about how to enroll in the microcredential activities.
Overview of Microcredential Requirements
The Teaching Writing Intensive Online Courses Microcredential requires the completion of the following:
- Why are They Writing? Defining Goals for Student Writing in Your Online Course Seminar (Offered in Fall)
- Teaching Writing as a Process Webinar (Offered in Fall)
- Helping Students to Become Flexible Writers Webinar (Offered in Spring)
- Effective Feedback Strategies for Writing Assignments Webinar (Offered in Spring)
- One of the following electives:
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- AI “Proofing” Your Writing Assignments Webinar (Offered in Spring)
- Designing Effective Online Writing Assignments Webinar (Offered in Fall)
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Why are They Writing? Defining Goals for Student Writing in Your Online Course Seminar (Offered in Fall)
In the age of AI, it is more important than ever for online instructors to be intentional about the use of writing in our courses. Reflecting on what we want from assignments that use writing to learn, explain, argue, reflect, and analyze, allows us to more clearly set expectations for how students use writing throughout the course. This asynchronous seminar dives into the strategic implementation of writing in online courses, inviting you to examine your current practices and set goals for your writing assignments. As an asynchronous seminar, there are no live sessions; however, there are due dates throughout the week.
The time commitment for this 1-week asynchronous seminar is approximately 5 hours. The seminar will be facilitated by First Year Writing faculty. Successful completion of this seminar is required for this microcredential.
Participants who complete the seminar will receive 2 credits towards eCampus Online Teaching or Online Course Design certificates as well as 2 credits for the microcredential.
Teaching Writing as a Process Webinar (Offered in Fall)
Unlock the full potential of your students’ writing! In this webinar, we will dive into the different types of writing that can elevate your course, and discover innovative ways to give students multiple chances to refine their work. You’ll also explore how prioritizing the writing process over the final product can transform your teaching and empower your students to become confident, skilled writers.
Participants who attend the live 1-hour Zoom session will receive 1 credit towards eCampus Online Teaching or Online Course Design certificates as well as 1 credit for the microcredential.
Helping Students to Become Flexible Writers Webinar (Offered in Spring)
In this interactive webinar, you’ll learn strategies to help students identify major types of writing specific to your field. You’ll explore ways to guide students in comparing and contrasting various writing genres, while also helping them analyze how their previous writing experiences shape their current practices. Additionally, you’ll discover techniques to assist students in tailoring their writing to meet the needs and expectations of specific target audiences, enhancing their overall communication effectiveness. Ideal for educators looking to elevate student writing across disciplines.
Participants who attend the live 1-hour Zoom session will receive 1 credit towards eCampus Online Teaching or Online Course Design certificates as well as 1 credit for the microcredential.
Effective Feedback Strategies for Writing Assignments Webinar (Offered in Spring)
This webinar will help you provide efficient and impactful feedback on writing assignments. We’ll cover strategies for offering feedback that supports student learning while being concise enough to keep students engaged. Learn how peer feedback can enhance writing skills, while instructor feedback focuses on discipline-specific content. Discover research-based methods to motivate students to read and apply feedback, and explore how to strike a balance between giving enough feedback without overwhelming students. Ideal for educators looking to improve feedback practices and student success.
Participants who attend the live 1-hour Zoom session will receive 1 credit towards eCampus Online Teaching or Online Course Design certificates as well as 1 credit for the microcredential.
AI “Proofing” Your Writing Assignments Webinar (Offered in Spring)
In this webinar, you’ll explore how to design writing assignments that minimize inappropriate uses of AI while encouraging authentic student engagement. We’ll identify common ways students misuse AI tools for writing and discuss strategies to revise prompts that promote personal and genuine responses. Learn how to structure assignments that make AI tools less effective for shortcuts and instead foster a deeper writing process. You’ll also discover how to connect AI to durable skills, ensuring students develop essential writing and critical thinking abilities that endure beyond the classroom.
Participants who attend the live 1-hour Zoom session will receive 1 credit towards eCampus Online Teaching or Online Course Design certificates as well as 1 credit for the microcredential.
Designing Effective Online Writing Assignments Webinar (Offered in Fall)
In this case study webinar, you’ll learn how to design writing assignments that effectively support student learning in online courses. We’ll explore how to identify the purpose of key writing assignments and develop a process-based approach to writing that guides students through each stage. Discover examples of how to scaffold assignments to build student skills over time and create appropriate assessment tools that measure both progress and proficiency.
Participants who attend the live 1-hour Zoom session will receive 1 credit towards eCampus Online Teaching or Online Course Design certificates as well as 1 credit for the microcredential.
Microcredential Final Reflection
Submitted after completing all other required and elective activities for the microcredential, this activity takes about one-hour to complete. Faculty are asked to reflect upon what they have learned through their participation in the microcredential activities, what they have already applied, and what they hope to do next to further explore and learn about this topic to improve their online teaching.
Participants will receive credit for the microcredential only for this activity.
Enrolling, Tracking, and Completing Microcredentials
To enroll in this microcredential, 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 microcredential to enroll in it. You can then view the requirements for the microcredential (as described above) by clicking on Home, then My Activity, then My Checklists.
You can enroll in currently scheduled offerings for this microcredential, 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 microcredential 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.
After you complete a seminar or elective activities for a microcredential, 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 microcredential, you will be notified by the eCampus Faculty Development team. You will then receive a badge recognizing that you completed the certificate which you can save to your computer and upload to LinkedIn. Your achievement of the microcredential will 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 badge and the announcement in the eCampus Update newsletter, your completion of the seminar and elective 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 Teaching Writing Intensive Courses Microcredential, you are encouraged to pursue other microcredentials and certificates.
Learn more about eCampus Online Teaching and Online Course Design Certificates and microcredentials.