The George Washington University Online Learning Initiative

ABOUT OLI
The Online Learning Initiative (OLI) is part of the Office of Special and International Programs. The mission is to encourage faculty to invest time and talent in online education. We are committed to creating and supporting a community of faculty interested in enhancing their pedagogical skills through course development and teaching that reflects best practices in online education.

Working closely with departments and schools, this initiative seeks to complement curricular offerings at GW by developing and expanding the portfolio of fully and primarily online courses. A number of fully online courses are developed and offered during summer sessions, providing opportunities for faculty to teach online courses without the full schedule demands of the regular school term. Working in close collaboration with Summer Sessions, Academic Technologies, and the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL), we support faculty through all phases of online course development and implementation.

FACULTY PARTICIPATION
Regular full-time faculty, regular part-time faculty, adjunct faculty, and other experts may propose a course and will be compensated for development. Payment for teaching summer distance courses will be made according to the standard guidelines for teaching on campus during the summer.

Participating faculty members agree to attend an orientation to distance learning conducted by the CITL (for first-time OLI participants); follow a basic electronic course format (certain embellishments may be possible depending on the work entailed and faculty participation); adhere to the course development time lines; and collaborate in course evaluation processes.

A proposal may be submitted at any time after a pre-proposal consultation, and no later than October 15, for development approval for the following Summer Session. The course proposal guidelines, application forms, and a sample syllabus template are available on the Propose a Course page.

COURSE ASSESSMENT
Professional staff in CITL and OLI will debrief faculty and review course evaluations each fall. These reviews will guide the fine tuning or revision of each course prior to its next offering.

COURSE FORMATS
A standard online course format, at minimum, includes the following:
1) Course structure (navigation and visual design)
2) Syllabus
3) Course materials: readings, narrated PowerPoint slides, tutorials, video files, podcasts, etc.
4) Online activities: discussions, blogs, wikis, etc.
5) Assessments: quizzes, surveys, tests, papers
6) Supporting documentation for students: how to navigate the course and use course materials, technology requirements, technology skills, tips on managing the distance learning process.


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Online Learning Initiative at The George Washington University
ABOUT OLI The Online Learning Initiative (OLI) is part of the Office of Special and International Programs. The mission is to encourage faculty to invest time and talent in online education. We are committed to creating and supporting a community of faculty interested in enhancing their pedagogical skills through course development and teaching that reflects best practices in online education. Working closely with departments and schools, this initiative seeks to complement curricular offerings at GW by developing and expanding the portfolio of fully and primarily online courses. A number of fully online courses are developed and offered during summer sessions, providing opportunities for faculty to teach online courses without the full schedule demands of the regular school term. Working in close collaboration with Summer Sessions, Academic Technologies, and the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL), we support faculty through all phases of online course development and implementation. FACULTY PARTICIPATION Regular full-time faculty, regular part-time faculty, adjunct faculty, and other experts may propose a course and will be compensated for development. Payment for teaching summer distance courses will be made according to the standard guidelines for teaching on campus during the summer. Participating faculty members agree to attend an orientation to distance learning conducted by the CITL (for first-time OLI participants); follow a basic electronic course format (certain embellishments may be possible depending on the work entailed and faculty participation); adhere to the course development time lines; and collaborate in course evaluation processes. A proposal may be submitted at any time after a pre-proposal consultation, and no later than October 15, for development approval for the following Summer Session. The course proposal guidelines, application forms, and a sample syllabus template are available on the Propose a Course page. COURSE ASSESSMENT Professional staff in CITL and OLI will debrief faculty and review course evaluations each fall. These reviews will guide the fine tuning or revision of each course prior to its next offering. COURSE FORMATS A standard online course format, at minimum, includes the following: 1) Course structure (navigation and visual design) 2) Syllabus 3) Course materials: readings, narrated PowerPoint slides, tutorials, video files, podcasts, etc. 4) Online activities: discussions, blogs, wikis, etc. 5) Assessments: quizzes, surveys, tests, papers 6) Supporting documentation for students: how to navigate the course and use course materials, technology requirements, technology skills, tips on managing the distance learning process.

	Online Learning Initiative The George Washington University ©2008