Preparing your course involves wearing multiple hats. You must be the curriculum developer, content curator, course designer and developer, and when all of those are complete, you then must put on your administrative hat to ensure students have the support necessary to complete the course successfully.
This administrative work can be time consuming, and your time can be better spent getting to know your students and providing them with the subject matter expertise you have. This is where AI tools can help reduce the amount of time you spend working on your course.
For the below activities, we recommend using a closed source AI Tool. In these activities, we used NotebookLM to facilitate these supporting documents. You can learn more about NotebookLM and its privacy on their website.
Some prompts will require AI training. Training is when you prep the AI tool for the prompt you are about to enter. Not all prompts below require AI training, but when it does, we have noted so in the section.
Tips
Here are some additional tips to get the most out of these activities.
- These activities work better with more detail. We recommend uploading a syllabus at minimum to create these.
- Uploading supporting documents that outline the course or provide details of the weekly content, will provide better results.
- If you do not have a completed course outline, course map or course design guide with all learning materials and deliverables, we recommend creating one first, so the tool has a weekly schedule to review.
- Every person and how we design are different. Some might write weekly announcements as they complete the module, while others complete all announcements after all content is complete. You can select when you’d like to do use these, however, this content is best developed after you have a strong outline of your course content and learning activities.
Sample Content
If you are not comfortable testing out NotebookLM with your own content, we have you covered. Please use this sample syllabus and course map below. You can download the PDF and upload it into NotebookLM or copy the text and paste it into NotebookLM.
Prompt Templates and Complete Example Prompts
Time on Task Estimates
Course Welcome Message
Course Welcome Announcement
Weekly Announcements
Assignment Announcements
Student Questions
Student Outreach
Time on Task Estimates
Providing time-on-task estimates in online courses sets students up for success by helping them manage their time effectively. These estimates give students a clear sense of how long assignments, readings, or activities might take, allowing them to plan their schedules and avoid last-minute stress. For students in online accelerated programs, balancing work, family, and school, this transparency promotes better time management and prioritization.
Prompt Template
Create time on task estimates for the work in this course. Each week should estimate how much time the [content categories] should take. [Add information about time on task if preferred].Completed Example Prompt
Create time on task estimates for the work in this course. Each week should estimate how much time the learning materials, learning deliverables, and all content should take.- Each chapter is roughly 30-40 pages with several new concepts, estimate 1.5-2 hours for each chapter.
- Each article or webpage will take roughly 30-45 minutes.
- Each lecture in the course is no more than 10 minutes.
- Discussions require an initial post and 2 responses to peers, thought is required but not extensive research.
- Quizzes require 1 hours of study time and 1 hour to take the quiz.
- Assignment lengths vary.
Tip
Once you have the estimates review them to check for accuracy. You can use these estimates to check that all modules are close to the expected work for the credit hours. If they are not close, it’s a good idea to check the content and make adjustments when necessary.Course Welcome Message
Save time crafting a welcome email for course starts. Based on the information provided by the syllabus and content documents, prompting the AI with a course start date will allow the answer to be customized not only with appropriate information from the course, but with real dates that align with generic weekdays typically found in a syllabus. The AI should be given the expected structure of a standard week to ensure answers are accurate to the prompter’s expectations.
Prompt Template
Each week starts on [enter date and time and weekday information]. Write a [description of tone] email to students that [content and information to be included].Completed Example Prompt
Each week starts on a Monday and ends on a Sunday and the course start date is March 4, 2025. Write a welcoming and encouraging email to students that emphasizes key points of the course including:-
- Instructions on how to log into LMS and access the course.
- Directions on where to find your introduction and contact information.
- Directions and due dates for participating in the course introduction activity.
- Information on required textbooks or materials and how to access them.
- Links to technical assistance at your institution.
- Communication about your excitement and a request for student questions.
Tips for Personalization
While these drafts offer all the concrete information of the course, this is a great place to add instructor presence. Consider what you’d like to share about yourself and what excites you about teaching the course. Don’t forget to adapt the prompt to your needs and add items that fit your needs, for example, specific tips from your experience teaching the course, suggest a weekly schedule that has worked for previous students, share your office hours and availability for support, and your preferred communication channels and response times.Course Welcome Announcement
As the course begins you’ll want to update your Welcome email a bit and create an announcement for the first day. Based on the information provided by the syllabus and content documents, prompting the AI with a course start date will allow the answer to be customized not only with appropriate information from the course, but with real dates that align with generic weekdays typically found in a syllabus. The AI should be given the expected structure of a standard week to ensure answers are accurate to the prompter’s expectations.
Prompt Template
Each week starts on [enter date and time and weekday information]. Write a [description of tone] email to students that [content and information to be included].Completed Example Prompt
Each week starts on a Monday and ends on a Sunday and the course start date is March 4, 2025. Write a welcoming and encouraging email to students that emphasizes key points of the course including:-
- Directions to the course syllabus.
- A description of the first week of activities and deliverables with due dates.
- Links to relevant campus support offices that will be key to student success.
- Information on an “open-door” communication policy & your turnaround time policy.
Tip for Personalization
Similar to the welcome message, the announcement is an opportunity to convey your excitement for the course and teaching philosophy. Provide students with insight into you and encourage them to complete an introductory email to help foster connection between their peers and you.Weekly Announcements
Weekly announcements in online courses are a simple yet powerful tool for fostering student success. They help keep students on track by highlighting key tasks, deadlines, and resources for the week ahead. Announcements also create a sense of connection, reminding students their instructor is present and invested in their progress. When used effectively, they can clarify expectations, provide encouragement, and address common challenges, reducing confusion and promoting engagement.
Prompt Template
Create weekly announcements. Highlight [items to highlight]. Outline [inclusion list]. End each announcement with an [item to add if preferred].Completed Example Prompt
Create weekly announcements. Highlight the topic for that week and how it helps them become proficient in the subject. Outline key tasks and deadlines. End each announcement with an encouraging statement for the week.Tip
Consider using a template approach to your weekly announcements. While AI can highlight key information in the course, you can also use this space to update students on current events, new research in the field, and share professional experiences and insights that students can learn from. This is also a great place to build connection between topics.Assignment Announcements
It can be a good idea to tee up an upcoming assignment with a message to students to serve as a reminder and reiterate its context within the course. The AI uses the content it learned to fill the template it was trained on and produces a helpful message to students about any assignment requested.
Prompt Template
Training: From now on, when I ask for an assignment announcement, write a reminder email to students for the assignment specified. Include details [add details to be included]. Assignment announcement for [title of assignment].Completed Example Prompt
Training: From now on, when I tell you to write an announcement for an assignment announcement, write a reminder announcement to students for the assignment specified. Include details like a topic overview, assignment description, due date, grade possible, and how it relates to the course. Tell me when you’re ready. Assignment announcement for Audience Analysis & Initial Communications.Tip
While assignment announcements are great reminders for students, especially during accelerated courses, they can also serve as a resource for supplemental support. Highlight resources that can support their success and encourage questions and dialogue from students.Student Questions
Using all uploaded content and details, honed by additional clarifications and use cases, the AI can be used as a question database for course-specific questions from students and can even give the answer in email form, ready to be pasted and sent without spending time to find the answer and type a response for every single question.
Prompt Template
Training: From now on, when I ask questions, write the answer as a [tone and description of response]. Tell me when you’re ready. Prompting [Question]Completed Example Prompt
Training: From now on, when I ask questions, write the answer as a friendly email as though responding to a student asking the question. Tell me when you’re ready. Prompting Is the Writing Center available on Mondays?Tip
If you repeatedly find yourself answering the same questions, you can add them all together into a FAQ document for students to reference during the course, or at a particular time when they have more questions.Student Outreach
It’s important to identify students who are at risk of dropping the course and reach out to them before catching up is seen as too daunting of a task to attempt. This use case has the AI asking where the student left off, then creates a simple plan to get them back on track and communicates that information to the student. This could be an efficient way to make an attempt without impacting instructor resources for active students.
Prompt Template
Training: From now on, when I say a student is behind, ask me [details to have AI ask], then [details for email].
Prompting
A student is behind.
Completed Example Prompt
Training: From now on, when I say a student is behind, ask me for the current week, ask which weeks the student hasn’t completed, then write an email to the student that provides a short list of what content they have missed and provides a plan for them to catch up for the current week. Be proactive, solution-oriented and encouraging.
Prompting
A student is behind. It is currently Week 6. The student has already missed Week 5.
