Review criteria

Selection for publication is based on eligibility and the following review criteria:

Educational Content:

• Do the course materials represent substantive content equivalent to or surpassing the content a student would be introduced to in an onsite course?

• Does the content seem appropriate for the subject being taught?

• Is the content likely to be clear to learners and faculty who access it?

• Do the materials present significant concepts and skills for the discipline?

• Do the course materials make it clear what the learner is expected to do to successfully progress through the content.

• Are the teaching and learning goals easy to identify?

• Are expected student learning outcomes clearly stated?

Design and Usability:

• Do the 'lessons' provide clear progression steps and intuitive navigation paths?

• Does the content utilize effective instructional design and learning principles?

• Do the course materials support learning by providing a variety of activities and experiences that encourage active engagement with the course content?

• Are there opportunities to measure prerequisite skills, assess that learning is taking place, and apply knowledge or skills presented?

• Do the course materials utilize authentic and multiple methods of assessment to measure student learning?

• Does the content require a lot of additional skills, technical support, and/or other instruction for most students to successfully use the material?

• Is the content presented in ways that would be attractive to students?

Interactivity and Community:

• Does the design of the course material encourage frequent student-student, student-faculty, and student-material interaction?

• Are there ongoing opportunities for collaboration, group problem solving, discussion of assignments, and sharing of ideas?

Use of Multimedia

• Do the course materials include multiple forms of media and is the multimedia used in ways that advance learning?

• Are clear instructions provided for accessing multimedia? (i.e. plug-ins, players)

• Do the course materials include external online resources in relation to activities and lessons to enhance the learning experience?

• Can pages be downloaded within a reasonable period of time even without a broadband connection?

• Does the use of (interactive) multimedia improve faculty and students' abilities to teach and learn the materials?