Best Practices
At College of the Desert we use the Online Education Initiative's rubric to guide our course design. A great way to begin to design your course, or to improve an existing course, is to review the OEI Rubric and use it as a self-evaluation tool. This is the rubric the Distance Education Subcommittee is using to evaluate course shells, so this is the standard that is helping us improve our courses.
We have also been certified as a "Local POCR" Campus.
Peer Online Course Review (POCR) was established in 2014 by the California Virtual Campus Online Education Initiative (CVC-OEI) Professional Development Workgroup to ensure that students in the California Community College system have access to high-quality online courses designed to support student learning and success. As of April 2023, College of the Desert is a Certified Local POCR Campus, meaning that we have an experienced team of faculty trained and ready to review YOUR online courses.
POCR is a non-evaluative process of faculty reviewing the online courses of other faculty. During a review, we use the CVC-OEI Course Design Rubric as the standard for online teaching best practices. There are four sections of the CVC-OEI Course Design Rubric, with a total of 44 elements between them.
To learn more, email the DE Team.
We Are Here for You!
POCR is not an independent process. Rather, it is a team effort during every step!
An integral part of teamwork is individual preparedness. Here are some additional
resources to help you prepare and to support your POCR journey.
External Resources
Course Design Resources from the CVC-OEI
Online Network of Educators Course Design Showcase
Peer Online Course Review from the Online Network of Educators (@ONE)
Byte-Sized Canvas - brief videos with helpful tips to align your course
