Online Teaching Certification

About the course

The Online Teaching Certification course is designed to prepare instructors to teach a fully online asynchronous course. 

The 12 week course is offered each Fall and Spring semester. Upon completion of the course, faculty will be eligible to teach online at Clovis Community College and may be eligible to teach online at other campuses.

Course Description and Learning Outcomes

This course will introduce you to effective practices in online instruction by building on a solid understanding of California Community College distance education policies and procedures.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

  • incorporate California Community College distance education policies and procedures, Clovis Community College distance education policies and procedures (including accessibility), and Title 5 requirements into your course;
  • discuss the unique needs of California community college students and the challenges and opportunities of asynchronous online courses;
  • use the OEI Course Design Rubric to design a quality online course;
  • use backward design principles to start a course plan;
  • apply Universal Design concepts to the planning and design of your online course;
  • develop unit-level learning objectives in student-centered language with demonstrable learning outcomes;
  • scaffold learning to support the needs of diverse students;
  • design a variety of valid and authentic formative and summative assessments aligned to the course outcomes that support and measure student learning;
  • design student self-assessments;
  • write clear and detailed assessment instructions;
  • create clear descriptive rubrics that support desired outcomes;
  • develop an assessment plan for your course that supports regular assessment with timely, meaningful feedback.
  • use a variety of communication tools, both within and external to Canvas, to support student success;
  • write a succinct and informative welcome letter;
  • design a welcoming home page in Canvas;
  • develop a supportive orientation unit with policies, student services, and meaningful student-to-student interaction;
  • design an accessible online syllabus;
  • develop a communication plan for your course
  • create and/or choose accessible content that supports the learning outcomes and objectives of your course;
  • check accessibility of outside resources using online tools;
  • create accessible documents using Word, Google docs, PowerPoint, and/or PDF;
  • caption videos;
  • list campus resources available to assist you and your students with accessibility issues.

Sign-up for upcoming sessions

Complete the following form to enroll in an upcoming Online Certification course (dates listed below). The course is 100% online with 3-4 optional Zoom check-ins. Note: this course is not self-paced, there are assignments required to stay enrolled. For questions, please email Tracy Stuntz.

Faculty can request 2 units toward Salary Advancement (Area D) if submitted prior to the course starting (see the SCFT contract).

Certification courses will run on the following dates:

  • Fall 2024: September 3 - November 27
  • Spring 2025: TBA

Register for the course

Online Teaching Certification Training Waiver

If you have completed an online teaching certification at another college (either within or outside of SCCCD), you can request a review of your course in lieu of completing the Online Teaching Certification course at Clovis College. You are eligible to request a waiver if you have completed online teacher training through another institution and have taught online previously. Note: training on how to use Canvas is not considered online teacher training.

To be eligible for a review, your course must:

  • have been taught online at least once, or is ready to be taught online;
  • is organized using the Modules tool;
  • meets all Accessibility requirements for digital documents and media. 

If you meet these requirements, you may complete the form below.

Once your materials have been reviewed, you will receive a Canvas course shell to add your course to. This course will then be reviewed by a member(s) of our Distance Education team using the CVC-OEI course design rubric and above requirements.

Online Teaching Certification Training Waiver

Advanced Certification

The Distance Education team is enrolling faculty in an advanced certification course. If you are already certified and have taught your course at least once and interested in additional help, or taking your course to the next level, contact Tracy (tracy.stuntz@cloviscollege.edu) to be added to the training.