Teaching an Online class
What happens before the start of the semester

Course Infosheets

The first thing you will do as a online or hybrid instructor is fill out and submit a course infosheet letting students know the details of your class, and how they can contact you if they have questions. Download the appropriate template, and follow the directions on this page.

Your online course

Every semester that you are the official instructor of an online class (in Banner) you will automatically receive an empty space for your class (a "shell") in Desire2Learn a at least a few few weeks before the semester starts. This shell will be loaded with the students when the semester begins, and should have a name similar to one of the following:

ABC090076 Developmental Widgets (Roger Smith) SP09 CCA
ABC121360 College Widgets : MA1 (Mister Mustard) SP09 CCA

You may also have courses from prior semesters (such as FA08), or development courses with names like "AAA 101 176 (John Smith) Dev". To find the production shell your students will see, look for classes in the above formats that end in the appropriate year code (e.g. SP09 for Spring 2009).

The live courses that appears each semester will appear empty of content. You must prepare the course for your students. The first time you teach online, you may need to design your course from scratch. Thereafter, you'll normally want to copy the content over each new semester using the Import/Export/Copy Components command in the Course Admin Tools in Desire2Learn.

Student records will start to appear a short time before the semester begins, but they will not be able to access the class site until the first day of class, as listed in Banner.

Developing or Revising a complex Course

If you are developing a new course, or dramatically revising an existing one, you may want to work in a development shell. Developmental shells can be made available months before the semester begins. To request one, use the development course shell request form.

Once your developmental course shell appears, which may take up to a week, you can design your new course.  When your live course appears for the semester, use the Import/Export/Copy tool in the Course Admin Tools to bring in your developed content.

There are tools available to help you make your course more interesting or easier to manage, such as Respondus, an exam creation program. You can learn more about training opportunities here.