Course Development – Albright College

Digital Learning and Innovation

Course Development
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Digital Learning and Innovation – Course Development

Digital Learning and Innovation provides support to individual faculty, faculty groups, and departments for the creation and continuous improvement of fully online and blended courses.

Explore the programs and offerings below:

OSCQR

In 2022, Albright made the transition to using the SUNY Online Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR) for evaluating our online courses. This rubric was specifically designed to support faculty during the design of an online course as well as through implementation.
Albright’s Digital Learning and Innovation team worked to revise the OSCQR rubric to specifically meet the needs of our school and our online courses. This means that the rubric aligns to our institutional goals and promotes our Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives.
It is important to remember that OSCQR reviews course design only – not delivery or faculty performance. Implementation of this new rubric allows the Digital Learning and Innovation and Albright Course Designers to work collaboratively through the course design process, ensuring courses are learner centered and clearly designed every step of the way.
The OSCQR Process includes three main sections.
  1. Course Review (occurs concurrently with course design)
  2. Course Refresh (Every 3 years)
  3. Learning Review

Learn more about these elements from the OSCQR website or watch the following video from SUNY Online.

Albright chose to transition to the OSCQR model to better fit the institutional needs. There are opportunities for customization and flexibility based on our specific needs. Unlike the previous rubric we were using, OSCQR does not require costly trainings for designers and reviewers to participate in. The tenets of the rubric are rooted in research and best practices in the online environment.

No. OSCQR is not a student evaluation of the faculty member’s delivery of the course. It includes a self evaluation, peer evaluation, and instructional designer review of the design (not the content) of the course.

We have curated a special asynchronous Canvas Course to train course developers in the new rubric. If you are interested in becoming an Albright Certified Course Developer, contact the DLI office. Certifications are on a 3 year renewal cycle, requiring developers to occasionally refresh and ensure that they are at the top of their game.

The Albright version of the OSCQR standards are split into 6 categories.  Remember, we customized the generic OSCQR rubric to reflect the priorities of Albright College, so it may not be the exact same as ones you can find elsewhere.
  1. Course Overview and Information
  2. Course Technology and Tools
  3. Design and Layout
  4. Content and Activities
  5. Interaction
  6. Assessment and Feedback
Within these categories there are various standards that clearly address specific elements of course design.

The standards are based on the principles of instructional design, research literature, and best practices.

No.  Courses do not have to be “perfect” in that they meet every single standard.  The rubric is meant to be a formative tool, generating feedback for course design improvement. During review standards are marked as “Sufficiently present,” “Minor Revision Needed,” or ” Moderate Revision Needed.” Then there is an opportunity to create an action plan to improve the course.

The OSCQR rubric is designed so that all courses will eventually meet expectations.  If a course does not meet expectations upon an initial review, the faculty course developer receives detailed feedback from a peer reviewer and a member of the Instructional Design team. Designers then have an opportunity to revise the course with the help of an Instructional Designer in the Department of Digital Learning and Innovation.

Brian Gall – OSCQR Coordinator and Instructional Designer
Dorothy Hoerr – Instructional Designer
Erin Eberle Quilinquin – Instructional Designer

You will be assigned to one of us to complete all parts of the course design and review process.

You can contact anyone on the Digital Learning and Innovation team for questions about the Albright rubric. For questions about OSCQR in general, feel free to explore the OSCQR Website.

Albright Online Course Design Process

The Albright Course Design process is a cohort based 120 day cycle where faculty work one on one with an instructional designer to design or redesign online courses to meet OSCQR Standards.  Digital Learning and Innovation partners with the day and SPS programs to identify faculty for the program, support course development and fund faculty participation.

Click the menus below for an overview of the process:

Working collaboratively with an instructional designer, the goals of the OSCQR program are for you to:
  1. Develop skills in online course development and online teaching through project-based learning
  2. Create an online/blended course that meets the Albright Rubric standards
  3. Submit the new or revised course to Albright’s internal review system
  4. Submit course for review after incorporating internal review feedback and teaching the course at least one time
  5. Recertify the course every three years

The OSCQR course design process is a stipend supported program with contracted responsibilities. Participation in the process requires sponsorship by the Department of Digital Learning and Innovation and Academic Affairs. Interested instructors should contact their department chair who can then contact our office on your behalf.
The OSCQR process is designed to assist new and existing online instructors with the creation of new online courses or the revision of existing online courses.
The requirements of each course designer include:
  1. Signed Online Course Design Agreement
  2. Take and pass the Designing Your Online Course at Albright Canvas course
  3. Completion of midpoint responsibilities which include:
    • Course Map
    • Complete Module 1
    • Instructional Equivalency Chart for Module 1
  4. Submission of course by assigned date
  5. Take feedback by internal review team (Instructional Designer and Faculty Peer Reviewer) and implement into course
  6. Teach course first time and make edits for next offering

The Course Design process is a structured 120 day program broken into the following several parts.  You can read about all of them in our Roadmap for Online Course Development.
Expected time to complete the various deliverables of the OSCQR Course Design process will vary based on your experience as an online instructor, your level of proficiency with Canvas, the amount of planning you’ve already completed for your course, how much of the material for the course is already identified or created, etc. However, you should expect to spend at absolute minimum 3-5 hours per week actively working on your course. Instructional design support is available for the contracted time.