Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Instructional best practices

Our faculty and staff are involved in a number of professional organizations and are constantly learning about new ways to improve online courses. These instructional best practices are great ways for you to improve assessment in your online course, connect with other faculty, and design interesting and engaging courses.

Essentials

• What works well in online teaching
  The updated version of What Works Well in Online Teaching includes a strong emphasis on creating a sense of community and academic belonging for all students.
• Teaching strategies
  Check out these great sessions on various practices you can use to promote student engagement in your classes.
• Get to know your faculty mentor 
  Connect with these experienced online faculty for great ideas specific to your discipline.
• Instructor Resources
  A curated list of up-to-date resources for instructors.
• Student Resources
  A curated list of up-to-date resources for students.
• Online course observations
  Use a tool offered for conducting online course observations.
• Identify library resources 
  Don’t reinvent the wheel. Your faculty librarians have a wealth of resources tailored for your course.
• Strategies for Equitable Grading Workshop
  This workshop explores a 1-5 point grading scale, a complete/incomplete scheme, and shows you how to create rubrics that use an equitable grading scale.
• Enhance your course with media 
  Media can improve your course, support your learning objectives, and add your personal voice.
• Discover professional organizations 
  Connect with professional organizations that are focused on online learning.

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