A welcome message on the Homepage.
The message should invite students to browse the course, and resolve any technical questions that might get in the way of a satisfying experience. The welcome message should provide explicit instructions for proceeding into the course.

Your course syllabus.
The syllabus typically appears in the Course Information area. Make sure the syllabus outlines course coverage, policies, and procedures for submitting assignments and otherwise participating in the course.

Discussion posts.
Posts to support the initial course discussions should be in place. Many online courses include opportunities for students to greet one another, share personal biographies, and otherwise become aware of the class population.
In one course, the instructor asks each student to post three truths and one “fib”; the rest of the class is then invited to try to discover the “fib” about the student. Many classes extend the personal interaction by including a “hallway” or “student lounge”, in which informal interactions can occur.

Online Course Checklist

Course Title: __________________________________

Course Number: _______________________________

Instructor: ___________________________________

Basic Features
Course title, number, and section	Yes	No
Instructor information: e-mail, work phone, office location, office hours, link to web page	Yes	No
Welcome message on Homepage by first day (click for template)	Yes	No
E-mail request that students begin participating in course sent via GoldLink (click for template)	Yes	No
Primary instructional components are in WebCT (syllabus, assignments, assessments, discussion posts, lecture notes, multimedia)	Yes	No
Western Resources listed (click for template)	Yes	No
Course Information/Syllabus
Syllabus complies with Western Guidelines and is complete	Yes	No
Course description included	Yes	No
Prerequisites listed	Yes	No
Course objectives listed	Yes	No
Text and required materials listed (include title, author, publisher, date, and ISBN)	Yes	No
Supplemental materials listed (include descriptions of how they may be obtained included)	Yes	No
Assignment expectations (due dates, assignments graded by date, scoring criteria/rubric, types of assignments)	Yes	No
Course grading criteria explained (include rubrics - click for sample)	Yes	No
Instructor expectations	Yes	No
Student expectations	Yes	No
Alternate plans & responsibilities in the event of technical difficulties stated (click for sample)	Yes	No
Expectations for frequency and timing of participation are stated and described (include rubrics - click for sample)	Yes	No
Instructor office hours are listed and convenient for students with various schedules (include chat times, turnaround time on answering e-mails)	Yes	No
Phone number is listed for instructor/student consultation	Yes	No
Explain your response time to e-mails	Yes	No
Course Calendar
Schedule of course activities is listed	Yes	No
Dates for units, assignments, activities and tests are shown	Yes	No
Institutional term information is listed (course start/end dates, withdrawal dates, etc.)	Yes	No
Interactivity and Discussion Groups
Instructor provides regular updates to students on course changes (weekly e-mails about coming week's activity - click for samples)	Yes	No
Discussion posts are used	Yes	No
Discussion posts are Instructor led	Yes	No
Discussion posts are student-led/instructor monitored	Yes	No
Faculty and student interactive opportunities are frequent and easy to initiate	Yes	No
Private opportunities to interact between faculty and students are available	Yes	No
Ground rules and procedures for Discussion Post communication are established and communicated	Yes	No
Appropriate discussion and chat behavior is addressed and guidelines are established and described	Yes	No
Live chat sessions are used for office hours or small group work	Yes	No
Assessment
Methods and plans for student assessment are described	Yes	No
Assessment methods demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes and competencies for the class	Yes	No
Testing schedule is complete yet flexible to accommodate various student schedules	Yes	No
Assignment submission instructions are provided and describe acceptable file/ software formats	Yes	No
Assessment is spread out over a variety of methods (multiple choice, short answer, essay, papers, discussions, presentations, projects)	Yes	No
Security issues are taken into consideration when necessary (honor code, proctored exams, timed exams, random question exams, etc.)	Yes	No
Feedback procedures of assessment are described (posting grades in gradebook, how critiques of assignments are returned, Assignment DropBox)	Yes	No
Evaluation forms and processes are in place to assess student satisfaction with services	Yes	No
Evaluation forms are available for assessing quality of instruction	Yes	No
Student Services
Links to institutional distance education resources are posted within course	Yes	No
Any required tutorial/learning support resources and services are available online	Yes	No
Link to student support services is provided within the course	Yes	No
Link to library	Yes	No
Technical Support
Students are informed of the hours and services of the Information Technology Help Desk and how to contact	Yes	No
Link to Information Technology in Western Resources	Yes	No
Course Design
Any copyright issues related to this course have been addressed	Yes	No
Instruction and media are designed to provide for multiple learning styles	Yes	No
Learning outcomes for the course are written and are matched to instructional and learning activities	Yes	No
The sequence of events and assignments are appropriate for Internet learning and provides for in-depth exploration of content material	Yes	No
Multimedia use is suitable to the topic and to the constraints of delivery	Yes	No
Course content is provided in logical chunks (weeks, units, chapters, objectives, etc.)	Yes	No
Course content is provided in segments that are technologically deliverable via limited bandwidth	Yes	No
Video/audio segments are edited to reduce long downloads and/or streaming	Yes	No
All links to content modules are checked and working prior to start of course	Yes	No
Graphics are appropriate and well utilized	Yes	No
Accessibility issues are considered	Yes	No
Instructor Considerations
Method for monitoring attendance (Course Tracking) in use	Yes	No
Security issues addressed (assessment protocols, proctored exams, honor codes, etc.)	Yes	No
Records of all communication with students are kept by Western for at least one semester after the class has been completed	Yes	No
Request previous instance of course to be copied to current semester	Yes	No

Online Course Checklist

Basic Features

Course Information/Syllabus

Course Calendar

Interactivity and Discussion Groups

Assessment

Student Services

Technical Support

Course Design

Instructor Considerations