Instructional Design & Pedagogy Tools

The Center for eLearning provides a number of resources and services to help faculty develop and facilitate online courses. Our instructional design practices and resources align with Quality Matters standards and best practices. 

CSU Course Template

Request a CSU Course Template Shell for your course in Blackboard. The Center for eLearning staff designed this template to help faculty ensure that important Quality Matters standards are met during the course design process.

Course Quality Benchmarks and Continuous Improvement

• Developed for use by instructional designers and faculty developers to use during the course development process. 
• Assess the level of your course against these five benchmarks.

Regular and Substantive Interaction

Create a plan for your course that incorporates regular and substantive interaction. 

Quality Matters (QM) Rubric

The Quality Matters (QM) Rubric provides an internationally recognized set of standards for designing online and blended courses. At CSU, our Instructional Design approach is rooted in QM Standards. Programs and courses developed by our Instructional Design team align with these standards and instructors can pursue certification through the official Quality Matters review process. For more information, visit the Quality Matters at CSU page.

Online Course Assessment Tool (OCAT)

Adapted by the eLearning Faculty Senate Committee, The Online Course Assessment Tool (OCAT) is available for the purposes of faculty peer review of courses. The OCAT is designed to give faculty comprehensive feedback on the design and instruction of online courses. Faculty may also find it helpful to review the OCAT while designing online courses.

Tips for Teaching Online