CTT Teaching Online Learning Community

TOLC: Take your online teaching to the next level with practical discussions, peer feedback, and real-time support.
TOLC: Take your online teaching to the next level with practical discussions, peer feedback, and real-time support.

The Center for Transformative Teaching kicks off its four-week Teaching Online Learning Community on July 17. Open to all instructors including GTAs, it offers practical discussions with peers and instructional designers, as well as workshop time with real-time feedback on course materials.

New online instructors will find this learning community valuable for its focus on starting strong, building community, maintaining engagement, and specific guidance for accessible design. Experienced instructors may enjoy refreshing and sharing their knowledge.

Registration is open to all instructors including GTAs. Participants will earn a certificate of completion.

The program is organized around four weekly learning modules. Each module features a brief lesson, including reading, discussion, and a small assignment, such as creating a portion of an online syllabus. Modules also include examples from the university's online courses and additional resources for exploration. Module topics include the following:

  • Getting Ready for Day One – Plan for a strong start to the term and compose an inclusive syllabus.
  • Designing Your Course for Everyone – Build an accessible course using Universal Design for Learning principles.
  • Measurable, Visible Learning – Craft engagement and assessment opportunities to get the most from teaching and learning online.
  • Building Online Communities – Create experiences that support social presence and better form communities online.


For each of the four weeks, participants will work through one asynchronous module in Canvas and attend two synchronous Zoom-based sessions for an estimated time commitment of about four hours. Sign-up now to be updated when the content is available for browsing and for more information about the learning community.

TOLC is also available on request and can be customized to the needs of specific colleges, departments, or programs. For more information, contact Zach Manley at zmanley2@unl.edu.

More details at: https://teaching.unl.edu/programming/iot/