Introduction

As part of our continued commitment to supporting quality and innovation in digital learning, we’re pleased to introduce a new companion to the OLC Course Review Scorecard: the Course Review Assistant GPT.

This isn’t just a technical tool or a novelty in the AI space. It’s a thoughtful response to a question we’ve been hearing for years: How can we make the practice of course review more reflective, more scalable, and more accessible to those doing the work?

The GPT was built to do just that. It brings together the rigor of the Scorecard framework with the flexibility of a conversational guide, one that knows the language of instructional design, understands the pressures of higher education, and stays grounded in research-backed principles.

Why We Built This

When we launched the Course Review Scorecard, we heard from many of you that it offered something new: a way to think holistically about the quality of a course, not just its design, but its delivery, its relevance, and its responsiveness to students. But we also heard something else: using it well takes time, support, and interpretation. The Scorecard, after all, is a tool. Like any good tool, its value is tied to how it’s used, and by whom.

That’s where the GPT comes in. We developed it to serve as a scaffold, not a shortcut, an assistant that helps unpack each objective, offer examples, prompt reflection, and even evaluate course artifacts when you’re ready to go deeper.

It’s not about automating course review. It’s about enhancing your ability to do it well—and to do it consistently, whether you’re just starting or leading a department-wide initiative.

What It Can Do

So what does this GPT actually do? In practical terms, it allows you to:

• Upload course materials or full unzipped LMS exports (from Canvas, D2L, Moodle, Blackboard), and receive structured feedback aligned to the Scorecard’s 50 objectives across Essential Design, Advanced Design, and Course Delivery.
• Review individual course elements and materials, such as syllabi, rubrics, assignments, module content, through the lens of the Scorecard, offering insights into strengths, gaps, and opportunities.
• Explore any objective in depth, with improvement strategies, reflection questions, and criteria pulled directly from the Handbook and Checklists.
• Generate review narratives that can be used in developmental or formal review processes, including for our own Exemplary Endorsement pathway.

The GPT can even act as a kind of peer coach, drawing from the same criteria our formal reviewers use, but available anytime, as often as you like.

A Different Kind of AI

This isn’t ChatGPT with a new name. The Course Review Assistant GPT has been trained specifically on OLC’s materials, including the full Scorecard, Handbook, Checklists, and FAQs. It reflects our values: inclusive, learner-centered, and practical. It’s meant to guide, not judge, to be a sounding board, a translator of rubrics, and sometimes, a mirror that reflects where your course is already strong and where it could go further.

It’s also deeply contextual. Ask it what “Exemplary” looks like for an objective, or how to apply UDL concepts to a weekly module. Ask it to compare two course syllabi or draft an improvement plan for a peer review cycle. It’s designed to speak your language, and the language of quality online education.

Speaking of languages, the GPT also supports multilingual access, including the official Spanish language version of the Course Review Scorecard, as well as unofficial support for more than 100 languages.

Looking Ahead

We see the GPT not just as a support tool, but as a way to extend the Scorecard’s reach. As more institutions adopt the Scorecard for self-assessment, peer review, student feedback, and faculty development, we want to make sure the work scales with care. AI, when guided by pedagogy, can help us do that.

But this is just the beginning. The GPT is still learning, from us, and from all of you. We’ll be updating it regularly based on your feedback, your use cases, and the questions you bring to the table.

The Course Review Assistant GPT is available exclusively to OLC members. Not yet a member? Explore OLC membership to unlock access and start leveraging the Course Review Assistant GPT as part of your continuous improvement process.

We invite all OLC members to try it out. Explore a single objective. Upload some course files. Ask it something weird and see how it responds. And let us know what’s missing or what would make this even more valuable as part of your course quality work.

Because tools don’t improve learning, people do. But good tools, used well, can help us do our best work.