When writing a proposal to teach a blended or online course, there are several major items to consider and articulate. The instructional consultants of LTC and LRC can help you as you work through these.

1. Reason for the Mode

Why should this course be in online or blended mode? The Why Teach Online page has some thoughts to help you start articulating this, as does the Teaching Modes page. Do you wish to increase access to an existing course, for example by offering an online section in the summer? Do you wish to create an innovative course experience using the affordances of online or blended modes, for example a class centered around small group discussions with a series of remote guest speakers? What will an online or blended course provide, that the in-person experience does not, or does not do as well?

2. Interaction

Any LSA course should include high-quality interaction between instructors and students, and between students and students. What kind of interaction do you plan to include in your course? Feedback on activities and assessments is important, of course, but interaction should not end there. What opportunities will the students have for two-way, ongoing communication about the course content and activities?  The Activity and Interaction Hours page outlines some examples, and the Substantive Interaction page defines the absolute minimum that is required. 

3. Verifying Student Effort and Academic Integrity

How will you ensure that the work students turn in is their own?  This answer may well be the same as it would be for an in-person course, or it may require a little extra thought. Some possible answers include: 

• Exam questions will refer specifically to examples from the course lectures and discussions, which only participants will be familiar with.
• Projects will be collaborations between students, and grow organically from their research and discussion.
• Practice activities during synchronous sessions show students’ developing understanding; any sudden change during assessments will be obvious.
• Essays display clear writing styles over time, and any sudden shift will be obvious.

Remember that remote proctoring software and services are discouraged by LSA, both because of their problematic approaches to intellectual property and because of the poor accessibility and bias inherent in various facial recognition programming. If live, proctored exams are truly vital to your course, consider teaching in the blended mode and using some of your on-site time for those exams.

4. Requirements and Accommodation

What software and hardware will be required to successfully complete the course, and what measures are available to ensure that all students have access to them? This is especially important to articulate for a fully online course, which may have students in many different locations. Not all of those locations will have fast internet access or high-powered computers on hand, the way on-campus courses do. If your course requires such resources to participate fully, loan or remote-access arrangements may be required, or activities may need to be restructured to allow for slower connections and machines. LTC and LRC consultants can also help you build in strategies, practices, and technologies to accommodate students with disabilities.