Online Teaching

Welcome to the exciting world of online learning! Whether you are teaching online for the first time, developing a new online degree or program, or are a veteran online educator, we hope you will find these resources useful for navigating the online course development and teaching process at Andrews University.

Types of Online Courses at Andrews University

Andrews University offers several types of online courses. Full official definitions can be found in the bulletin under the School of Distance Education.

• Interactive online. Most online courses at Andrews University fit in this category. The teacher and the student(s) are not in the same physical space. The course may be fully asychronous (with weekly deadlines), include some synchronous teaching (usually via Zoom), or may be offered primarily synchronously (via Zoom). 
• Blended. Blended courses typically reduce the face to face time required for the credit hour and move some of that time into an interactive online format.
• Self-paced. These asynchronous online courses allow a student to register at anytime and complete within 180 days. They are offered as a service to guest students. They typically aren't available to U.S. residents in online or on-campus degrees. 
• Dual synchronous format. This type of online course is actually a combination of interactive online and face to face courses. Synchronous teaching (via Zoom) is offered to students in the same location as the teacher (face to face) as well as students who are not in the same physical space. Zoom is used to connect the interactive online students to the face to face students. Two sections are offered, one for face to face and one for interactive online; and they are cross-listed to provide for one joint space in LearningHub.

2020 note: Due to COVID-19, Andrews University is also offering remote teaching; however it is NOT considered online teaching because these courses have not gone through the online course approval process at Andrews; are prepared under less than ideal circumstances; and may or may not meet the Andrews Standards for Teaching Online.

Services We Provide

Every interactive online course at Andrews University is assigned an Instructional Facilitator (see below) to provide these services. In addition, members of the instructional design team provide additional support to faculty teaching online. The services include: 

• Instructional design
• Advice on various ways to convert face to face courses to an online course format
• LearningHub support
• Assistance with formatting materials for the online delivery (written content, audio, video, etc.)

Course Development Handbooks

• Voted Documents:
  • Andrews Standards for Teaching Online
  • Requirements for Online Courses
  • Substantive Interaction Policy
  • Expectations for Blended Teaching
• Support Documents:
  • Full Course Author Handbook for New Courses
    • Handbook Section 1: Getting Started Meeting
    • Handbook Section 2: Learning Design Meeting
      • Storyboard Framework: Time-Based
      • Storyboard Framework: Project-Based
      • Storyboard Framework: Concept-Based
      • Excel Storyboard Framework: Time-Based plus Credit Hour Check
    • Handbook Section 3: Technology and Tools Meeting
    • Handbook Section 4: Assignments and Assessments
    • Handbook Section 5: Teaching Online and Online Course Reviews
  • Course Author Handbook for Existing or Returning Courses
  • Online Exam Proctoring Guide for Online Courses
  • Instructional Designer and Facilitator Handbook
  • Faculty Quality Review Checklist

Syllabus Support

• Andrews University Syllabus Template: Login to Vault; go to iVue, click Manage Syllabi, download the template for your course
• Andrews University Credit Hour Definition
• Faculty Directed Credit Hour Worksheet (with thanks to National Louis University)
  • Credit Hour Spreadsheet plus Time-Based Storyboard

Online Course Reviews

• Online Course Review Form: For Self-Reviews, Peer Reviews, and External Reviews

Online Course Development Team

To arrange for support, please contact Amy Spears, DLiT Director, at maydole@andrews.edu.

Janine Lim, Associate Dean, Online Higher Education
janine@andrews.edu
269-471-6546

Amy Spears, DLiT Director
maydole@andrews.edu

Lileen Coulloudon, Online Quality Assurance Specialist
lileen@andrews.edu

Michael Gayle, Curriculum and Learning Design Specialist
gaylem@andrews.edu

Sheralee Thomas, Instructional Designer
sheralee@andrews.edu