CEWIT Overview
Video Production Examples
CELT's instructional designers are available to support instructors as they develop new courses or redevelop current courses.
Instructional design is the planning and creation of effective, measurable, and engaging learning objectives, activities, and assessments. Overall, instructional designers apply best pedagogical practices that take into account research on learning science, student development, and inclusive teaching. Instructional designers also provide training so faculty can leverage technology and pedagogy to build learning environments where students are able to flourish regardless of the modality of instruction. Instructional design includes taking a critical look at pedagogical practices by acknowledging the social and cultural contexts of learners and is committed to working with intentionality to bring equity to teaching and learning. Finally, instructional designers participate in research that furthers the extant knowledge on teaching and learning through a variety of platforms and modalities.
For all course design projects, we recommend starting at least one semester prior to the start of the course. Please keep in mind that you may have to get your syllabus approved through your school's curriculum committee. They can provide you with additional information and due dates. Contact us to set up a consultation with an instructional designer. You can send your syllabus in advance so we can review your current course design and learning objectives and be better prepared to best advise you on revisions.
The first step to course design is reviewing the syllabus. The following syllabus templates bring together the best practices in online, hybrid, and face-to-face syllabi. The templates feature resources, links and phone numbers specific to the Stony Brook University student population. You can adapt and edit this template to suit your needs. Guiding comments are posted in a separate document to help you think through the trickier aspects of course policy and procedure.
When developing an online course for the first time, approach it as if it is the first time you are teaching the course, even if you have taught it in person prior.
Research on best practices suggests that incorporating a variety of activities to promote cognitive and social engagement is critical to student learning. Discussion boards, student-led activities, videos, recorded lectures, and posted readings are all easily manageable in Blackboard's learning management system.
Your first learning module should introduce the syllabus, provide tips for success, and orient the students to the course organization. Label course materials and learning modules clearly, and strive for consistency in how you present the materials. Blackboard allows you to use “Date Restrictions” to hide items from student view until you want them to become visible, so do yourself a favor and get everything posted in advance. You won't regret it!
CELT endorses quality online course design through both Open SUNY's Online Course Quality Rubric (OSCQR) and Quality Matters (QM).
Open SUNY's Online Course Quality Rubric (OSCQR) is a research-based review instrument for revising and guiding the design quality of courses in addition to conducting internal peer reviews.
Quality Matters (QM) is a leader in quality assurance for online education and has received national recognition for its peer-based approach to the continuous improvement in online education. Stony Brook is a QM subscriber campus and CELT can provide faculty with training on how to use the QM rubric and advice on how to build an online course using QM Best Practices. Please note that Quality Matters is a proprietary rubric and cannot be shared outside of our campus.
Chico's Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT) Instrument is another rubric used to create and/or evaluate online and blended courses. This site also offers the option to view exemplary courses in which instructors have implemented the rubric.
Assessing Students Online - Review information about strategies and challenges when assessing students online.
Explore our whitepapers and past events!
CELT's Guide to Transitioning to an Online or Hybrid Course
National Distance Learning Week (2019): A Conversation on Online Learning: Part 1
National Distance Learning Week (2019): A Conversation on Online Learning: Part 2
In July, 2021 the US Department of Education updated the federal regulations as it applies to distance learning today. Prior, the regulations were based on correspondence education and since then, the pedagogy and technology have changed significantly.
Below are some resources about these changes:
Please email us if you have questions or would like to set up a presentation.
Collaborate with CELT to produce high quality audio and/or video for academic content or grant projects. We have access to an active television studio with broadcast quality audio and video that can support your needs. Please contact Jan (Dini) Diskin-Zimmerman at 2-1026 for support on how to get started.
Note: some services may have a cost associated with them.