Online learning (OL) courses help faculty improve skills for online teaching and service. The courses are open to all current Penn State faculty, staff, and graduate students and are offered in a self-directed or instructor-led format. Self-directed courses can be completed at your own pace. Instructor-led courses are facilitated by Penn State faculty and simulate the online student experience.
Courses begin on the first Monday of the designated month. If that date falls on a national or university holiday, participants will be notified of the start date.
Course registration closes two weeks before the start date for instructor-led courses. All course work should be completed within the designated course timeline.
OL 1200.01: Student Support and Advocacy in Online Learning
This course should help you handle distressing behavior or disclosures of distress. You will learn where to point students for assistance, how to identify urgent concerns, what the best practices for alleviating stress and creating an inclusive learning environment are, when to handle concerns yourself, and when to refer students to other services.
OL 2100.01: Introduction to Canvas
OL 2100 is a self-directed course that will take you through basic information about Canvas. The expectation for this course is that you familiarize yourself with our new learning management system (LMS).
OL 2600.01: Accessible Online Course Authoring
The intention of this course is to equip course authors and instructors with knowledge about accessible web practices and course design that can be applied when creating and adding content in Canvas.
OL 3000.01: Supporting Accommodations for Online Learners
OL 3000 consists of six scenarios that guide you through processes that support accessibility to online learning.
OL 3100.01: Teaching the Adult Learner
OL 3100 is a fully online self-directed learning experience. You will be able to work through the course at your own pace, and it should take you a total seat time of 1–3 hours.
OL 3200.01: Serving the Military-Connected Student
This course leads you through several scenarios in order to acculturate you to the conditions of the military student. It includes such issues as the structure of the military, language, what to expect from students in the military, and the support available at Penn State.
OL 3600.01: Universal Design for Learning
This course is for instructors and designers who: embrace student variability strive for equity seek to implement new, research-based learning practices want to empower students through flexibility In this introductory course on UDL, you will:…
OL 3800.01: Excellence in Academic Advising: Building a Foundation
This course examines the foundations of academic advising as essential components of student success and retention in higher education.
OL 3875.01: Excellence in Academic Advising: Career Advising
Although career advising is not the primary role of an academic adviser, holistic academic advising involves more than just course selection. Students ask academic advisers career-related questions like which major to choose. While you are…
OL 2000.01: Essentials of Online Teaching
OL 2000 provides you with a foundation to practice effective online teaching. This course is designed as an introductory point to embark on the Faculty Development Online Teaching certificates and courses.
OL 3825.01: Excellence in Academic Advising: Under-Resourced Students I
This course takes a deep dive into the different student populations, called “under-resourced” students, and how to provide quality academic advising based on the essential components and unique characteristics of each student population. Topics include advising diverse populations of multicultural students, LGBTQ students, students with disabilities, and first-generation students.
OL 3500.01: Gamification in Online Teaching and Learning
This is a course about games and what it means to "gamify" your teaching. It's something of an immersive experience in order to plant you in the language and culture of gaming. By doing this, the goal is for you to rethink what it would look like if you took a course you have been teaching and re-thought what it would look like if it were "gamified."
OL 2300.01: Teamwork in Online Teaching and Learning
This course is designed to help you create a team assignment for your class as you work through the lessons. Some activities ask that you post responses to questions for discussion in the forums, while other activities involve submitting specific documents.
OL 2000.01: Essentials of Online Teaching
OL 2000 provides you with an effective foundation to practice effective online teaching. This course is designed as an introductory point to embark on the Faculty Development Online Teaching certificates and courses.
OL 3850.01: Excellence in Academic Advising: Under-Resourced Students II
This course is part two of the different student populations, called “under-resourced” students, and how to provide quality academic advising based on the essential components and unique characteristics of each student population.
OL 3400.01: Online Course Design
OL 3400 is designed to assist participants in the authoring, design, and development of an online course. This course will cover a wide variety of content that will assist you in the successful authoring of an online course.
OL 2000.01: Essentials of Online Teaching
OL 2000 provides you with a foundation to practice effective online teaching. This course is designed as an introductory point to embark on the Faculty Development Online Teaching certificates and courses.
OL 2200.01: Assessment of Online Learners
OL 2200: Assessment of Online Learners is a course that goes deeper into the topic of assessing student learning than what was covered in OL 2000. As the higher education community is increasingly committed to creating learning-centered environments in which faculty are actively involved in helping students succeed, assessment of student learning is essential in understanding and contributing to their academic achievement.
OL 3300.01: Teaching the International Student
This course is designed to provide you with material and activities that can assist you in online classes that enroll significant numbers of international students.
OL 2000.01: Essentials of Online Teaching
OL 2000 provides you with a foundation to practice effective online teaching. This course is designed as an introductory point to embark on the Faculty Development Online Teaching certificates and courses.
OL 2150: Canvas Hands On
In this course, you will complete most of the operations you need to prepare a Canvas course, place content into it, manage interactions within it, and use some advanced features.
OL 3825.01: Excellence in Academic Advising: Under-Resourced Students I
This course takes a deep dive into the different student populations, called “under-resourced” students, and how to provide quality academic advising based on the essential components and unique characteristics of each student population. Topics include advising diverse populations of multicultural students, LGBTQ students, students with disabilities, and first-generation students.
OL 2300.01: Teamwork in Online Teaching and Learning
This course is designed to help you create a team assignment for your class as you work through the lessons. Some activities ask that you post responses to questions for discussion in the forums, while other activities involve submitting specific documents.
OL 3400.01: Online Course Design
This course was designed for instructors with minimal learning design experience. It will help you to develop an approach to online course design that models Penn State Quality Assurance e-Learning Design Standards and employs Quality Matters Standards to promote effective and engaging learning experiences for Penn State students.
OL 2000.01: Essentials of Online Teaching
OL 2000 provides you with a foundation to practice effective online teaching. This course is designed as an introductory point to embark on the Faculty Development Online Teaching certificates and courses.
OL 2200.01: Assessment of Online Learners
OL 2200: Assessment of Online Learners is a course that goes deeper into the topic of assessing student learning than what was covered in OL 2000. As the higher education community is increasingly committed to creating learning-centered environments in which faculty are actively involved in helping students succeed, assessment of student learning is essential in understanding and contributing to their academic achievement.
OL 3850.01: Excellence in Academic Advising: Under-Resourced Students II
This course is part two of the different student populations, called “under-resourced” students, and how to provide quality academic advising based on the essential components and unique characteristics of each student population.
OL 3300.01: Teaching the International Student
This course is designed to provide you with material and activities that can assist you in online classes that enroll significant numbers of international students.