Endorsements for Educators

Are you looking for new opportunities to develop your teaching skills? Ohio State instructors and staff can pursue endorsement in a variety of teaching and learning subject areas.

A teaching endorsement is a credential awarded by the Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning to acknowledge educators who strive for teaching excellence through active participation in university professional learning programs. Learn more about endorsements. 

If you’d like to grow your knowledge and skill with online teaching and learning technology, the Digital Learning team in the Office of Academic Affairs offers an endorsement for you; explore the options below.

Explore Our Programming

Designed and facilitated by expert staff across our organization, Digital Learning endorsement programming provides foundational knowledge, opportunities to engage with peers, and resources for further learning. We offer four endorsement programs to support you with teaching online, leveraging university-approved technology in your courses, or designing effective, student-centered online courses. 

Explore the eligibility and participation requirements for each endorsement program below.

Teaching Online

Open to any interested instructor, GTA or staff member at Ohio State, the Teaching Online endorsement prepares you to develop high-quality online courses and implement best practices to engage, support and communicate with your students at a distance. All participants must complete Introduction to Teaching Online, a two-week foundational online course (10 hours) offered once per academic term, and five additional hours of elective workshops.

 Introduction to Teaching Online (10 hours)

This instructor-moderated two-week online course acquaints you with key considerations and affordances of the online learning environment. You'll be prepared to make decisions about course format and delivery, how you communicate with students, and how you foster student interaction and create engaging activities. You will work independently in a Carmen course and have regular opportunities for activities, discussion and feedback from the instructor and other participants.

Note: This course is a 10-hour time commitment, including readings and assignments that are due on Monday, Tuesday and Friday of each week. Active engagement and assignment completion is required in order to receive credit toward endorsement.

Teaching Online Electives (Choose 5 hours)

Attend at least five hours of additional eligible workshops on teaching online. Each Digital Learning workshop is 90 minutes with the exception of Virtual Studio sessions, which are 60 minutes. Choose workshops that interest you and search for upcoming sessions in the Teaching and Learning Resource Center.

  • Academic Integrity in Online Courses
  • Carmen Essentials for Student Success
  • Creating Rubrics in CarmenCanvas
  • Designing Assignments for Your Online Course
  • Effective Grading in Carmen
  • Engaging Students in Online Collaboration
  • Exams and Assignments for Your Online Course
  • Exploring CarmenZoom: Student-Student Interaction 
  • Exploring CarmenZoom: The Basics
  • Fostering Inclusive Learning Online
  • Increasing Student Engagement with Top Hat
  • Info Session: New Quizzes in Carmen
  • ​​Integrating Student iPads into Your Course (discontinued workshop)
  • Leveraging ePortfolios in Your Course with PebblePad
  • Making Your Course Accessible for All Learners
  • Managing Course Files: Maximizing Instructor Workflow
  • Mediasite for Instructors: Managing Video for Your Course
  • Planning for Your Online Course
  • Promoting Interaction and Engagement in CarmenZoom
  • Recording Lecture Videos: Best Practices and Tools
  • Using Technology to Support High Impact Practices in Your Course
  • Virtual Studio: Recording Lecture Videos Using Mediasite
  • Virtual Studio: Recording Lecture Videos Using Powerpoint
  • Virtual Studio: Recording Lecture Videos Using Zoom
  • Virtual Studio: Using Workbooks in PebblePad

Technology-Enhanced Teaching

Open to any interested instructor, GTA or staff member at Ohio State, the Technology-Enhanced Teaching endorsement prepares you to use university-approved technology to support, enhance and transform your instruction in any modality. All participants must complete Technology-Enhanced Teaching, a five-hour self-paced online course, and nine additional hours of elective workshops.

Technology-Enhanced Teaching course (5 hours)

This self-paced asynchronous online course will help you consider effective ways to incorporate technology into your class activities, assignments and teaching strategies. You will explore research on best practices and examples of practical applications through readings and videos. By the end of the course, you will have begun to make plans for how you might integrate technology in your courses to better meet your outcomes and enhance student learning.

Note: This course is a five-hour time commitment completed independently at your own pace. Each module covers key concepts, promotes reflection and concludes with a quiz. There are no deadlines for completing readings or quizzes; take as much time as you need to complete the modules.

Technology-Enhanced Teaching Electives (Choose 9 hours)

Attend at least nine hours of additional eligible workshops on teaching with technology. Each Digital Learning workshop is 90 minutes with the exception of Virtual Studio sessions, which are 60 minutes. Choose workshops that interest you and search for upcoming sessions in the Teaching and Learning Resource Center.

  • Active Learning with Technology
  • Carmen Essentials for Student Success
  • Creating Rubrics in CarmenCanvas
  • Designing Assignments for Your Online Course
  • Digital Flagship for Instructors: Leveraging a Common Technology in Your Courses (discontinued workshop)
  • Effective Grading in Carmen
  • Engaging Students in Online Collaboration
  • Exams and Assignments for Your Online Course
  • Exploring CarmenZoom: Engage Your Students
  • Exploring CarmenZoom: Student-Student Interaction
  • Exploring CarmenZoom: The Basics
  • Increasing Student Engagement with Top Hat
  • Info Session: Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Info Session: New Quizzes in Carmen 
  • Instructional Approaches to Hybrid Courses
  • Integrating Student iPads into Your Course (discontinued workshop)
  • Leveraging ePortfolios in Your Course with PebblePad
  • Making Your Course Accessible for All Learners
  • Managing Course Files: Maximizing Instructor Workflow
  • Mediasite for Instructors: Managing Video for Your Course
  • Promoting Interaction and Engagement in CarmenZoom
  • Recording Lecture Videos: Best Practices and Tools
  • Supporting Physical and Virtual Environments in Hybrid and In-Person Courses
  • Using Technology to Support High Impact Practices in Your Course
  • Virtual Studio: Recording Lecture Videos Using Mediasite
  • Virtual Studio: Recording Lecture Videos Using Powerpoint
  • Virtual Studio: Recording Lecture Videos Using Zoom
  • Virtual Studio: Using Workbooks in PebblePad

Course Design in Higher Education: Designing Your Online Course

Open to any interested instructor, GTA or staff member at Ohio State, the Designing Your Online Course pathway in the Course Design in Higher Education endorsement guides you to incorporate evidence-based practice and Universal Design principles to plan an effective, inclusive course that meets Ohio State's expectations for quality online learning. All participants must complete Designing Your Online Course, a five-week asynchronous online course experience (15-20 hours) offered once per term.

Designing Your Online Course (15-20 hours)

This five-week asynchronous course will guide you through the backward design process with the help of expert facilitators and a cohort of engaged peers. You will spend three to five hours each week on course activities: exploring the instructional content of each page; completing the planning, design, and reflection activities in each module; providing feedback for and collaborating with fellow attendees; and ultimately building a course blueprint that captures the major design elements for your course. 

Note: This course is a 15-20 hour time commitment that requires you to complete assignments and attend at least one synchronous CarmenZoom meeting. Most assignments are due at the end of the week, with occasional smaller assignments and synchronous check-ins occurring at strategic points earlier in the week. 

Course Design in Higher Education: Ohio State Online Programs

Eligibility for the Ohio State Online Programs pathway in the Course Design in Higher Education endorsement is limited to instructors from Ohio State Online programs who are working with Digital Learning instructional designers to design a course. This pathway provides participants with the tools, time and support needed to build or rebuild effective, student-centered online courses.

Participation requirements (15-20 hours)

Ohio State Online programs instructors work one-on-one with Digital Learning instructional designers over a semester-long course design collaboration. This time may also involve consultations with educational technologists, instructional multimedia specialists, and library specialists. Typically, you are expected to attend weekly meetings and to commit time between meetings for organizing material, creating new content, and so on. Learn more about the Ohio State Online course design process.

Participants are expected to meet with instructional design staff at least five times within the span of a semester and to engage in at least three of the following activities:

  • Write or revise course learning outcomes
  • Develop or revise course assignments
  • Develop or revise integrated course plan
  • Create or curate course readings and other learning materials (with support of library liaison or subject librarian)
  • Create interactive multimedia objects (DIY or with support of Digital Learning media staff)
  • Incorporate inclusive teaching strategies and course materials
  • Develop an accessible, user-friendly CarmenCanvas course
  • Ensure digital accessibility of course materials through proactive generation of accessible materials and/or remediation of inaccessible materials
  • Implement one or more teaching strategies from Ohio State's Effective Practices for Online Teaching

Note: Depending on the specific activities you engage in during the course design or redesign process, this endorsement may take 15-30 hours to complete, with an average of 15-20 hours expected.

Get Started

Once you've familiarized yourself with our programming, use this checklist to plan your endorsement journey and guide your progress toward completion. 

Endorsement applications are reviewed by the Institute for Teaching and Learning three times per year, at the end of each academic termWhen you apply, be prepared to list the titles and dates of the eligible programming you participated in and write a reflection about your learningRead more about the application process and see submission deadlines.

Endorsement Journey checklist

Keep Growing

Earning an endorsement isn’t the end of your journey. There’s always room to grow your teaching toolkit, improve your students’ experience, and share what you’ve learned with your peers. 

Continue to develop as educator by pursuing one or more of the opportunities below.  

  • Request a consultation. Get individualized support to apply the practices you've learned through endorsement to your courses. Our staff provide consultations and support for using teaching strategies that incorporate and rely on technology, whether you’re teaching in person, hybrid, or online. Contact us.

  • Apply to a learning community. We offer two learning communities—the Technology-Enhanced Teaching Community and the Teaching Online Community. These communities can support you to build upon the knowledge and skills gained from endorsement as you explore new practices and resources, connect with peers doing similar work, and reflect upon your teaching goals and growth. Learn more about our learning communities.

  • Earn another endorsement. There are numerous professional learning programs to engage in across the university. Check out all endorsements offered via the Institute for Teaching and Learning to see what’s right for you. 

  • Apply for Instructional Redesign. Endorsement is one pathway to Instructional Redesign (IR), a more intensive and personalized professional learning experience developed by the Institute for Teaching and Learning. Instructional Redesign “encourages instructors at Ohio State to identify, implement and assess evidence-based teaching practices in their courses to improve student learning outcomes or enhance the student learning experience.” Learn more about eligibility, requirements and the IR process.