College of Liberal Arts
Guidelines and Expectations
for Courses with Online Components
Online Teaching Requirements
All instructors must be certified to teach online.
All courses with an online component are expected to meet the Temple University guidelines for academic credit and contact hours.
All Online courses (virtual, hybrids, and asynchronous classes) must meet the following standards as addressed in the CLA Certification program:
1. A dedicated Home Page for each course. This will *not* be the Modules page, or the Syllabus page, but a separate and designated welcome page. Here is how to create and set it.
Basic course information (for example, the description from the University Bulletin) and instructor contact details should be on this page. This is also the best place to include the required welcome video.
2. A video welcome message from an instructor to students. This video should introduce the instructor, the learning goals for the course, how to navigate the class, and any additional information that is relelvant to the class. This is an overview, so concentration should be on the key information. Details of specific course content will appear in the syllabus and weekly modules used to organize the class.
3. The full course syllabus – This must be available by 8AM on the first day of the semester. Temple U syllabus guidelines for online courses are slightly different from in-person classes, so make sure you are aware of what needs to be included. The University usually publishes additional and specific guidelines prior to each semester. The syllabus should be posted on the assigned Syllabus page in the Canvas shell.
4. Materials, instruction, and information should be prepared and uploaded/installed in the Canvas shell for the first three weeks of the semester by the given review date for the term. Work two weeks ahead throughout the semester. If anything delays you, you should always have a buffer.
5. Use the appropriate template, edited for clarity. If you are teaching a General Education class online the Gen Ed template is a University requirement for your course. CLA also offers a template that includes a basic structure that meets the guidelines that may be used for all other courses. All templates are just a springboard for setting up your course with a clear structure. You will need to remove/replace all placeholders in the template.
6. There should be a clear structure for the course outlined in your syllabus and in the Modules section of the class.
College of Liberal Arts
Asynchronous Course Guidelines and Expectations
Asynchronous Teaching Requirements
Courses that are offered asynchronously do not have a specific designated meeting time. Instructors may not require a specific, regular meeting time. Faculty are encouraged to meet individually with students at mutually agreed upon times for conferences, office hours, and the like.
Asynchronous online courses must demonstrate:
1. Active and visible teaching in the course. Instructors must add teaching to each week of the course, and should be seen and heard teaching by the students. Instructors are expected to use a variety of media. All instructors are expected to include videos of themselves actively teaching each week. In addition, you are free to use audio recordings, recorded PowerPoints (with added audio or video commentary from you), VoiceThread, etc.
2. Communication with the students in the course. Check in with students at least once each week through email or posted Announcements. Reiterate what is to be done in the current module/week, and parse any work that is expected.
3. Consistent and regular assessment of student work. Using assignments that activate and engage students, instructors should track student progress and engagement in the class, as well as the development of key competencies linked to the learning outcomes of the course. Each week of a course should include direct assessment of students through assigned work. It is not acceptable to have, for example, just a midterm and a final.
4. Timely developed and constructive feedback to students. Assignments should be graded and returned to students no more than 14 days after submission. It would be preferable to give students feedback on an assignment before they submit subsequent work so that they can develop based on instructor feedback. Responses to student emails should be sent within one working day. Make it clear to students any policy you have about answering outside of work hours or on weekends, breaks, and holidays.
Further information and guidance on all of the above requirements and standards can be found at this link.
College of Liberal Arts
Synchronous and Hybrid Course Guidelines and Expectations
Synchronous Teaching Requirements
Courses that are offered synchronously have a specific designated meeting time block every week. Instructors must adhere to the online meeting times published in the schedule.
Synchronous online courses must demonstrate:
1. Active and visible teaching in the course. Instructors can use a variety of media to supplement the synchronous sessions with students. You are free to use additional audio or video recordings, recorded PowerPoints (with added audio or video commentary from you), VoiceThread, etc. You can use a variety of resources available through Canvas or Zoom to, for example, enable group work, or breakout sessions within online class time.
2. Communication with the students in the course. Synchronous sessions should be interactive, and student engagement and involvement should be part of the learning in the course. The time that you have together should be as immersive as possible.
3. Consistent and regular assessment of student work. Using assignments that activate and engage students, teachers should track student progress and engagement in the class, as well as the development of key competencies linked to the learning outcomes of the course. Each week of a course should include direct assessment of students through assigned work. It is not acceptable to have, for example, just a midterm and a final.
4. Timely developed and constructive feedback to students. Assignments should be graded and returned to students no more than 14 days after submission. It would be preferable to give students feedback on an assignment before they submit subsequent work so that they can develop based on instructor feedback. Responses to student emails should be sent within one working day. Make it clear to students any policy you have about answering outside of work hours or on weekends, breaks, and holidays.
Further information and guidance on all of the above requirements and standards can be found at this link.