Chico's Rubric or Online Instruction

Chico State University's Rubric for Online Instruction is a great reference when designing an online course, not just for those individuals associated with Chico State, but all online instructional designers. It reminds the designer to be consistent in designing the course for the learner and to provide extensive learning resources for ALL learners. It also reminds the designer to provide the student with information on how they can obtain support from the instructor and other necessary points of contact. In terms of designing the course, it reminds the designer to make sure the students can navigate and view the pages in a visually pleasing manner, as well as being mindful that the pages must be visible to ALL students, even those with accessibility issues. With regard to the content of the course, it reminds the designer to be specific in what the student is expected to learn, as well as providing the learners with enough variety of learning tools, to draw on each individual's learning abilities. This includes designing the content so as to be interesting to the learners, in addition to being informative and applicable to the subject. The Assessment and Evaluation of Student Learning category of the rubric reminds the designer that they must provide enough assessment tools for the instructor to make a valid assessment of the students ability to understand the content of the course. By explaining what is expected of the students and making the assessments match those expectations, the learners will be able to demonstrate the knowledge received in the course, as well as allowing the instructor to make sure that they are providing the student with all the necessary information for learning. Using new and innovative technology and multimedia, allows the designer to integrate more interesting ways of teaching the same things but in a new manner. This may also allow the learner to stay abreast of new and changing information in the course without having to do research outside of the class. By allowing the students to provide feedback to the instructor, the instructor will be able to adjust the virtual classroom evironment to make sure all students are on the same page, as well as adjusting the course content if necessary during the course or for a different semester.