Online course support designed for you.
If you are an educator seeking do-it-yourself online course design guidance and how-to training, we are your support team.
The Online Learning Toolkit provides course design instruction and professional development sessions about online teaching techniques for higher education faculty who teach online and around the world.
Upcoming Webinars
Designing For Our Courses With Canva
Presented by Judith Dutill, Clea Mahoney, and Melissa Wehler, PhD
Thursday, September 3, 6:00pm ET
OLT Subscriber and Fall-On-Call Webinar (recorded for replay)
Subscribe (an annual subscription includes access to our webinars and short courses) or join Fall-On-Call
During this online workshop we will discuss how to use Canva to create infographics and graphics for our online courses. Topics covered include design principles, using Canva for Education, and accessibility considerations.
Engaging Students with Pause Procedure
Presented by Melissa Wehler, PhD
RESCHEDULED: Monday, September 14, 4:00pm ET
OLT Subscriber Webinar (recorded for replay)
Presented by Melissa Wehler, PhD
Subscribe (an annual subscription includes access to our webinars and short courses)
In this webinar, you will learn more about the technique known as pause procedure and ways you can use it to engage your students. We’ll discuss designing purposeful, strategic “pauses” in our lessons and using tools to help us create meaningful “pauses.” We’ll also discuss leveraging these pauses to engage students from the first day to the final one.
About the Presenter
Melissa Wehler is an instructional design specialist and an experienced online learning educator. She specializes in creating community in online courses, using collaboration online, and inclusive teaching practices. She has worked in higher education for over a decade, including faculty and administration appointments. She is the co-founder of the Online Learning Toolkit, a digital community of practice dedicated to excellence in online learning, and a full-time instructional design specialist at a private, liberal arts college. You can follow her on YouTube, LinkedIn, and the OLT Blog.
Our Programs & Services
We specialize in facilitating fun, energetic, and joyful professional development programs.
Our Aims & Objectives
Educators
Inspiring you to create original instructional materials using affordable, reliable, and user-friendly tools
Empowering you to simplify online course design with easy-to-master methods and processes
Teaching you to design accessible and engaging online learning experiences
Equipping you with great practices for teaching in online modalities including remote learning, blended, and hyflex learning scenarios
Staff & Admin
Supporting your faculty through every step of the course design process from concept to assessment
Developing your faculty in evidence-based online course design and teaching methods
Assessing and providing actionable recommendations to improve online courses and online program quality
Customizing training and development to the unique needs of your educators
What People Are Saying About Our Programs
Recent COOL Participant
Thank you for the excellent model of an online course. This attention to tone is often not present from other professional learning experiences I have had. The design that sets a sense of community is not easily created. I felt welcomed every time I entered the course and encouraged and invited me to learn.
Recent PD Session Participant
Navigating the remote learning session now and want to extend my gratitude for this, it has been most helpful and truly engaging. Your passion is amazing and your energy equally so. I've been teaching in Moodle for many years now, but always appreciate new ideas, and literally within 10 minutes I learned a few new tricks.
Recent COOL Participant
The passion and knowledge of the facilitators made the whole experience energizing. They made all the "campers" feel like we were colleagues and collaborators, not just students. Everything taught in theory was modeled in practice, and I believe both novice online instructors as well as seasoned veterans benefited from the content.
Our Team
In our 20+ years in education, we have served as college faculty, instructional designers, and online education specialists. We are passionate about online teaching and learning, education development, and learner experience. We use the OLT as a platform for helping educators learn how to design and deliver effective online instruction using practical approaches and sustainable methods.
Check out the latest from the OLT Team
Free Online and Remote Learning Resources from the OLT Team
Recent Free Resources
CC BY NC SA licensed resources
Fostering LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Online Learning Environments Webinar
Presented by Kim Myers
Why and How I Use Videos in My Online Teaching Webinar
Presented by Karen Costa
The Online Lecture Toolkit is a CC BY NC SA licensed resource.
The Online Lecture Toolkit is an OER website designed to provide educators with the tools they need to create engaging and effective online video content for educational purposes. The approaches outlined there are practitioner- and evidence-based and designed for educators at every level of technological fluency.
Remote Learning Resources
CC BY NC SA licensed resources
Coming Soon: OLT's Remote Learning Strategies Site
In the meantime, check out these resources...
Planning for Multiple Instructional Scenarios Infographic
UDL Can Save Us All This Fall ThinkUDL Podcast featuring the OLT
Giving Yourself a Pass