Faculty/instructors are invited to register for upcoming sessions of the Online Teaching Certification Seminar, which is offered periodically throughout the year as indicated below. The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) has endorsed the seminar.
The Online Teaching Certification Seminar is Missouri Online’s primary faculty development program that has certified nearly 2,500 instructors to deliver quality online learning experiences. The seminar supports the UM System-wide requirement that instructors teaching online courses be certified prior to teaching online, and our Online Teaching Recertification Seminar supports the requirement that recertification occur every 5 years.
This asynchronous seminar is 100% online in Canvas. Sessions are offered in two formats: a six-week course or a 16-week course. The six-week sessions have weekly due dates, while the semester-based version has the same content and activities but allows participants to complete the seminar over 16 weeks with soft deadlines every two weeks.
Upcoming sessions
Thank you for your interest in the Online Teaching Certification Seminar. Registration for a session will close after the first day of the session.
Who can participate?
Online Teaching Certification Seminar is intended for faculty/instructors who have the responsibility to teach online for the University of Missouri System.
Are there prerequisites?
- Participants should have access to a Canvas course site, preferably the course they are (or will be) teaching in order to complete the certification requirements.
- We suggest faculty be familiar with Canvas and other learning technologies before registering. Please see our Trainings & Events page for more information.
- If you do not have a site for a course you are or will be teaching, please use the Canvas Request System to request a development site to use for practice as you work through the seminar activities.
- Some participants in the course (e.g, TAs, graduate students, and other student employees) may not have access to the Canvas Request System. If you are unable to access the Canvas Request System, please contact a faculty member in your academic unit or your facilitator to have a development site created for you.
Can I be online certified through other avenues beyond this seminar?
Certification self-assessment
For faculty/instructors who have not participated in the Online Teaching Certification Seminar but believe they may be qualified for certification or recertification through a previous program or alternative certification path (e.g., extensive online teaching experience, Online Teaching Foundations, Online in 9, or ACUE), please take our reflective self-assessment. This self-assessment will provide you with additional information on certification paths, and direct you towards appropriate certification options for your specific situation.
Other certifications
This infographic displays historical and alternative programs that give credit towards online teaching certification, for instance Online Teaching Foundations, Online in 9, and ACUE.
Am I already certified?
Please visit the self-check dashboard to view your Online Teaching Certificate status.
This self-check reflects the certification status of instructors who have taught online. If you have questions about your certification status, please contact your chair.
What are the program objectives?
This 100 percent online course is asynchronous with a weekly schedule and regular peer-to-peer interaction requirements. The course will be facilitated by instructional designers.
At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Demonstrate proficient Canvas navigation.
- Demonstrate an awareness of university academic policies and resources to support diverse learning needs.
- Select appropriate university-supported technologies to enhance online teaching and student needs.
- Analyze and integrate effective online instructional strategies.
- Design communication and feedback strategies to engage and motivate students in the online environment.
- Develop a learning community that fosters interaction.
What's the schedule and format?
- Fully online, in Canvas
- 6 weeks, offered in multiple start dates
- Expected time commitment is 21 hours to complete the whole course. See the following graphic for a breakdown of the estimated time commitment by week.
Topics will be:
- Pre-Work: Getting Started
- Module 1: Preparing to Teach Online
- Module 2: Teaching Strategies for a Quality Online Course
- Module 3: Shaping Your Online Instructor Presence
- Module 4: Motivating Online Learning Communities
- Module 5: Crafting Your Online Teaching Experience
Theoretical and Practical Frameworks:
- Quality Matters (QM) Rubric and Standards
- Online Learning Consortium (OLC)
- Association of College and University Educators (ACUE)
- Community of Inquiry model (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer, 2000)
- High impact practices (NSSE, Kuh, 2008)
- Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2011)
- Among others specifically referenced in the course.