Just like a car needs regular maintenance to keep running smoothly, your online course also benefits from routine checkups. Proactive, preventative maintenance is especially important after LMS or educational technology updates, before the start of a new term (particularly Fall and Spring), and when you are preparing to teach a course you haven’t facilitated recently.
Step 1: Review Student Feedback
Prior to performing maintenance, review any student feedback you might have collected from the last run of the course. This includes:
- Emails & Other Communications: In previous iterations of the course, did students note any
issues with understanding directions? Accessing content? - FAQ & Other Discussions: In course discussion boards, did students ask questions about
content or need additional clarity? - Midterm & End-of-Course Surveys: Did students note any frustrations with navigation, accessing
content, or understanding directions? - LMS Data: Are students regularly accessing the course and course content as you anticipated? Did anything prevent them from accessing materials seamlessly?
Step 2: Complete Maintenance Self-Inspection
Download the maintenance self-inspection guide below to support you as you walk through your course materials. This comprehensive checklist provides a list of key items to review during a self-inspection and maintenance session. Your course may have additional areas of review, so there is a space provided in the document for you to note these as well.
Step 3: Finalize Course
After completing the self-inspection, finalize your course by completing the maintenance tasks required. We recommend completing this maintenance in your primary course shell instead of updating live courses. This will help maintain your course quality term-over-term.
