What We Did This Summer: A Fresh Look at Faculty Development Courses
While some may picture summer in academia as a quiet time of rest and recovery, the Distance Learning Instructional Support Team spent the season diving headfirst into a full renovation of our online faculty development courses! Think of it as a home makeover - but for professional learning. We’re excited to share what’s new, what’s changed, and what’s coming soon.
What’s new
ODL 140: Learning Objectives and Alignment
Previously offered as ODL 200, we restructured the course from a facilitated delivery to self-paced to better support faculty who want to get more experience with learning objectives and alignment as well as course maps.
Enrolling in the course provides a full year of access to content. To earn a certificate for the course, you must complete all activities and pass all quizzes.
ODL 220: Creating Interactive Learning Content for Engaging Students
We’ve expanded this course to create a more dynamic experience, supplementing the hands-on elements in the course with concepts previously delivered in ODL 110: Strategies for Engaging Learning Online.
This streamlined course is facilitated asynchronously over 14 days. By enrolling in the course, you can expect to spend 8-10 hours per week on course content, activities, and assessments.
What’s changed
ODL 120: Designing Accessible Online Courses
Inclusive design in the classroom ensures content is accessible and usable to the widest possible number of learners. In this course, we’ve made updates to make implementation easier than ever.
ODL 130: Introduction to Open Educational Resources
All the content previously delivered through this course will soon be available as a streamlined resource on our website to allow for easier ongoing access.
Coming soon
ODL 150: AI Essentials for Faculty and Staff
This fall, we’re offering an entirely new course exploring how AI tools can support your teaching and productivity! Watch your email for updates on when the course will be available.
Enrolling in ODL Courses
ODL courses are all offered asynchronously, allowing faculty to access professional development around their busy schedules. Courses are part of our Online Teaching Certification pathway and are open to all faculty or staff for professional development.
We’re excited to share these updates and hope you’ll explore what’s new. Whether you’re building skills or refreshing your approach, our revamped courses offer practical tools to support engaging, inclusive teaching.
Email us at distancelearning@louisiana.edu to enroll.
Self-Paced Courses: Flexible, Focused, and Fresh
Take up to a year (365 days) to complete our self-paced courses.
- ODL 100: Moodle Basic Training
- ODL 120: Designing Accessible Online Courses
- ODL 140: Learning Objectives and Alignment
- ODL 150: AI Essentials for Faculty and Staff*
*Coming Fall 2025
Facilitated Courses: Designed with You in Mind
Gain actionable feedback and complete courses with a cross-disciplinary cohort through our facilitated courses. Check under “Events” for upcoming dates.
- ODL 210: Beyond Design – Strategies for Online Course Delivery
- ODL 220: Creating Interactive Learning Content for Engaging Students
- ODL 230: Introduction to Instructional Video Production
