Online Teaching Certificate Programs

The Online Teaching and Advanced Online Teaching Certificates draw on the latest information and research regarding methods, tools, and best practices for teaching in an online or digital environment.

Home > Professional Learning > Certificate Programs > Certificate Programs > Online Teaching Certificate Programs

Table of Contents

Program Overviews

Online Teaching Certificate Program

Leverage your background and proficiencies as an educator, administrator, or institutional leader to become a more effective online/digital teaching & learning professional.

The OLC Online Teaching Certificate Program, leading from the conceptual to the implementation of online learning best practices, is offered as a sequence of one foundation course, followed by elective courses and creation or revision of an online course under the guidance of a mentor. At the end of this program, you will be prepared to design and develop a complete online or blended course based on current research and best practices.

Advanced Online Certificate Program

The OLC Advanced Online Teaching Certificate Program is a 12-week workshop designed to help educators fine-tune existing online courses and degree programs in order to have a positive impact on student learning.

The program is intended for those online faculty who wish to improve their online courses through the inclusion of active learning strategies, multimedia, and social media components, and stronger assessment practices.

The Online Teaching Certificate Program

The OLC Online Teaching Certificate prepares educators to teach and improve online courses using the OLC pillars of quality in online education—learning effectiveness, scale, faculty and student satisfaction, and access. A unique feature of the certificate program is that expert mentors work individually with each certificate candidate to accomplish specific goals.

The Certificate consists of three phases:

  • Phase 1: Ten-week foundation course
  • Phase 2: Electives that focus on improving overall competency within a specific path of focus
  • Phase 3: Participant-built online course and presentation of that course for feedback using the OLC QCTIP Quality Scorecard

 

Who should take this program?

  • Faculty interested in developing quality online and/or blended courses
  • Instructional designers and Instructional support staff

Prerequisites 

  • At least some online teaching experience or completion of the Essentials for Online Faculty
    workshop
  • An online or blended course that the participant can revise or create that is at least two weeks
    in duration.

Key Takeaways

  • Become highly effective in the principles and practices of asynchronous instruction
  • Integrate OLC‘s research-based, conceptual and theoretical foundations relating to learning
    theory and assessment to complement and personalize your online classroom
  • Create high-quality work products that will be assessed by the program facilitators, a mentor,
    and your peers
  • Collect helpful resources, templates and sample rubrics
  • Build an online course with a syllabus and assessments personalized for your teaching needs

Program Registration Options & 2024 Fees

$2,100 (Institutional Members) / $2,310 (Professional Members) / $2,630 (non-members)

Foundations Overview

The OLC Online Teaching Certificate Program Foundation Course prepares educators to teach and improve online courses using the Pillars of Quality in Online Education: learning effectiveness, scale, faculty and student satisfaction, and access. The Foundation course is 10-weeks, asynchronous, and facilitated by an expert in online teaching.

Learning Objectives

  • Establish an online learning community
  • Explore key concepts of online course design and instruction
  • Integrate research-based, conceptual and theoretical foundations relating to learning
    theory and assessment to complement and personalize your online course
  • Create drafts of a course plan, syllabus and
    learning activity and assessment for an online
    or blended course

 

Topics Covered

  • Establishing Community and Expectations
  • Quality Standards in Online Courses and Teaching
  • Online Course Design
  • Online Syllabus Design
  • Teaching and Learning with Technology
  • Accessibility and Usability
  • Online Assessments
  • Curating Online Content and Copyright
  • Online Workload and Time Management

Mastery Series Overview

In the 4-week Mastery Series, you will build or improve an online or blended course while being guided by OLC’s QCTIP Scorecard, which is used to evaluate online course quality. Along the way, you will learn important concepts and tools for online course design through a series of steps
following the ADDIE instructional design model. You’ll choose your subject of focus and solve your trickiest design problems with the support of an expert facilitator and peers in your discipline.

This elective option is perfect for faculty or new instructional designers who want to take a deeper dive into designing online courses.

By completing this option, you’ll earn the Mastery Series digital badge!

  • Focus 1: Instructional Design Theory for Online Course Development
  • Focus 2: Online Nursing Course Development
  • Focus 3: Online Science Labs Course Development

Choose a skills pathway and take any three of the one-week or self-paced workshops included in that pathway. When you select and successfully complete this option, you’ll earn a digital badge in the pathway you chose!

Skills Pathways Available

  • Accessibility
  • Teaching and Learning with AI
  • Holistic Learner Support
  • Engaging Multimedia
  • Learning Sciences
  • Course Design Strategies
  • Adaptive & Gamified Learning
  • Effective Online Facilitation
  • Designing Learning Assets
  • Assessment

Option Overview

Take any 4-week workshop OR three one- week/self-paced workshops to choose your own focus area(s).

Note: Essentials workshop and ID certificate workshops excluded.

Workshops Available

  • Artificial Intelligence Demystified
  • Gamification Principles and Strategies
  • Data Stories: An Introduction to Data Visualization
  • Facilitating Live, Online Sessions
  • Flipped Learning Course Design
  • Neuro, Cognitive and Learning Sciences, Part 1: Bringing Theory to Practice
  • Infographics for Learning
  • …and MORE!

 

View the Institute Schedule for a full list of available workshops.

Quality Studio Overview

During their time in the Online Teaching Certificate Program, participants will build a complete online or blended course. With the guidance of an expert mentor and experience gained through taking electives, the participant will build that course and present it to the mentor within one year of beginning the program. The mentor, using the OLC QCTIP Quality Scorecard, will review the course against the standards set forth in the scorecard and will give valuable feedback for improvement in areas as needed. Finally, the course will receive final review and the participant will receive a certificate of completion for the program!

  • Step 1: Mentor Match
  • Step 2: Develop a Course
  • Step 3: Present and Get Feedback
  • Step 4: Course is OLC Quality Scorecard Reviewed!

Advanced Online Teaching Certificate Program

The OLC Advanced Online Teaching Certificate Program is a 12-week workshop designed to help educators fine-tune existing online courses and degree programs in order to have a positive impact on student learning. You’ll start with critically analyzing one of your own courses to determine how close, or far, you are from the best practices described in the OSCQR Course Design Review, the Quality Course Teaching and Instructional Practice (QCTIP) scorecard, and the Peralta Online Equity Rubric.

Topics Include:

  • Quality Rubrics for Course Evaluation
  • Assessment
  • Interaction and Collaboration
  • Student Engagement
  • Video and Multimedia

Who Should Take this Program?

  • Faculty who want to enhance and strengthen current skills to become more effective in the principles and practices of online teaching.

Prerequisites 

To be successful in the OLC Advanced Teaching Certificate program, participants need the following:

  • It is strongly recommended that you have either have taught at least 3+ years online
  • OR have successfully completed the OLC Online Teaching Certificate program AND taught at
    least 1 year online.

 

Program Outcomes

  • Leverage your background and proficiencies as an educator, administrator, and institutional leader to become highly effective in the principles and practices of asynchronous instruction.
  • Integrate OLC‘s research-based, conceptual and theoretical foundations relating to learning theory and assessment to complement and personalize your online classroom
  • Capitalize on your potential as an innovator in the field of online education by being challenged to create high-quality work products which will be assessed by the program facilitator and peers

 

Program Registration Fees (2024)

$1,580 (Institutional Members) / $1,730 (Professional Members) / $1,940 (Non-members)

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing to visit this site you agree to our use of cookies. More info