CONT916: Online Learning Using Pedagogy and Design

Course Schedule

Course Description

How can educators design online learning that is human-centred, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of all students? What does it mean to move from delivering content to designing and curating meaningful online learning experiences? How can online educators build community, reduce barriers, strengthen feedback, and make thoughtful decisions about the role of generative AI (genAI) in teaching and learning?

This course will equip you with pedagogical principles and design approaches to support effective online teaching and learning in today’s educational landscape. It will provide you with an immersive online learning experience to explore human-centred course design, accessibility and belonging in virtual environments, assessment and feedback practices that emphasize growth, and the responsible integration of genAI in teaching and learning.

Throughout the course, you will work with design frameworks (e.g., backward design, universal design for learning) and digital tools (e.g., genAI, Brightspace) to build coherent, inclusive, and engaging online learning experiences. You’ll consider how online learning can offer multiple ways for students to engage with learning, access information, express understanding, and develop agency. The course culmination task requires you to apply your learning to design an AI-enhanced online module that reflects intentional pedagogy, equitable practice, human connection, and clear student-facing expectations for AI use.

What You Will Learn and Do

In this course you’ll have the opportunity to

• explore the role of the online educator as a learning architect who designs for digital engagement, critical thinking, and human connection
• identify features of online learning environments that support belonging, relational teaching, and meaningful learner participation
• apply equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility principles to design online learning experiences that address learner variability and reduce barriers
• use universal design for learning as a framework for creating flexible pathways for engagement, representation, action, and expression
• explore how genAI tools support instructional design, administrative tasks, feedback processes, and personalized communication while maintaining academic integrity
• weave First Peoples’ Principles of Learning including relational, reflective, and community-centred approaches into online course design
• design an online learning module in onQ (Brightspace LMS) that aligns with the BC curriculum, learning goals, assessment practices, and learner needs

Application Requirements

Course Materials

There are no additional resources required for this course.

Accommodations

Applicants who require accommodations for a specific learning need (e.g., learning disability) within their AQ/ABQ course, should click here for further information and support.

Have a question? Contact us!

Refund Schedule

• If you drop a course by the midpoint of the course, you will receive 100% of your course fee
• If you drop a course after the midpoint, before the end of the course, you will receive 50% of your course fee

For more about our refund policies, visit our Fees & Refunds page.