Online Education Hub

We are defining ‘online courses’ as courses that are designed to be mostly or fully online, allowing students to participate from a distance.

There are a range of options to suit your objectives, these could include: 

• Postgraduate courses including Diplomas and Certificates 

• Short courses (typically around 6–10 weeks) either hosted on Canvas or using our course aggregator partners to reach new audiences 

• Summer Schools – online teaching complemented with 1–2 week-long in-person intensive courses for professionals looking to upskill 

• Executive and professional education, often delivered in a highly tailored manner for employers or industry sectors 

Discuss your needs with us and we can help you evaluate the best option for your context. 

When approaching the development of a new course, it is important to consider the needs of your potential students. Online learning is a great option if you are looking to access students that are unable to attend in-person, for example due to location, time constraints, or finances. Online can also allow for different types of interaction, perhaps more experiential or with people from different backgrounds or countries. 

If you are looking to move an existing course online, review previous feedback or go back to your network of students and ask them why they might want to undertake an online course. How is it solving their problems that an in-person course wouldn’t? 

Of course there is also the option of hybrid, in which case it is important to consider how you are using online and in-person learning to solve your students' needs. For example, you could consider flipped classroom learning to maximise the use of your in-person time. 

Creating online courses typically requires more of an upfront investment compared to in-class teaching, given the need to plan a thoughtful, media-rich experience for students who are studying at a distance without the traditional tacit support of an in-person cohort. This investment typically pays off in terms of longevity of the course, the strength of the student feedback, the success of graduate outcomes and the notable reduction in on-going teacher load. 

The Online Education Hub has detailed resourcing modelling data on the likely effort required to create a variety of high-quality online courses. The Hub also has experience in bringing together a range of specialists to complement academic resourcing models, helping to ensure the teaching team feels supported and there is visibility of the investment in quality that is taking place.  

High quality online education doesn’t happen by accident. It requires thoughtful conversations about the educational experience your students and faculty ought to come away with. 

Often when teaching online, there’s a lot more up-front curriculum planning and media production that needs to take place. Like building an extension to your home, it’s best to sketch out a blueprint of where the foundations are going to be before you break ground. The same is true for creating an online course, and therefore the Hub offers teaching teams the chance to engage in an immersive ‘activity-based’ design workshop to help you lay down the educational foundations of a high-quality online course that meets the expectation accompanying an Oxford teaching experience. During these workshops you’ll get a chance to further develop your digital pedagogy skills, creating authentic forms of assessment and fostering an engaged scholarly community in the online domain. 

Just reach out via onlineeducationhub@conted.ox.ac.uk to schedule a workshop with your team.  

In many respects, online courses are just like other types of course. They’ll typically be approved by your academic Division’s Education Committee with input from university governance if the courses carry an award. This process usually requires you to submit a proposal which outlines the academic, business and teaching and learning aspirations for consideration.  

Non-accredited online courses, like short courses, micro-credentials, and some executive education courses can be assured in different ways. 

The Hub can help you navigate the approvals process and put you in touch with relevant Divisional colleagues if required. 

Canvas, as the University’s centrally supported Virtual Learning Environment, can be your first point of call for hosting an online course. Along with colleagues in CTL and TALL, we can support you to get your online environment set up appropriately, including access to our pre-vetted partners who can take the weight of design and build off your shoulders. 

If you’re looking for more of a commercial short course model, where you would benefit from a ready-made audience and built-in marketing, you could explore working with our course aggregator platform partners such as EdX & GetSmarter (part of 2U) and Coursera. These have a revenue share model, so you can avoid upfront investment costs and instead only pay upon the success of your course. They also have the benefit of 1:1 dedicated support and guidance to get the most out of their platform, as they are as invested as you are in making the course a success. 

We can review your needs and provide advice based on the best path forward for you – get in touch with us at onlineeducationhub@conted.ox.ac.uk.