Learning outcomes

Educational aims

This Postgraduate Certificate in Online Teaching is designed to meet the needs of practitioners worldwide who are designing online and blended teaching, learning and assessment in their professional context. It focuses on developing a theory and evidence-informed approach to designing and delivering equitable online teaching, learning and assessment that meets your needs while also embracing technological and pedagogical innovation and contributing to social justice. The qualification aims to support your understanding of the challenges involved in designing and delivering online teaching in a range of contexts, sectors and settings, and explores how a scholarship-informed approach can help address these challenges. It will enable you to critically reflect on theories relevant to online teaching, learning and assessment, and on institutional and national policies, as the basis for designing equitable and engaging online courses and learning experiences. The Certificate provides postgraduate professional development for lecturers, teachers, trainers, learning media specialists, library and support staff and other education and training professionals who wish to learn more about online teaching, learning and assessment, and about flexible learning that blends face-to-face and online education. It is not necessary to be based in an educational institution, however.

You will:

consider and critically evaluate a range of theoretical approaches to online teaching, learning and assessment and their implications for equity, accessibility, inclusion and social justice
consider and critically evaluate a range of educational technologies and their implications for equity, accessibility, inclusion and social justice
work with case studies from around the world, covering a range of sectors and settings, as the basis for developing your own practice
learn how to design and deliver online teaching that addresses diverse learners’ needs, interests and priorities, and how to evaluate online teaching
derive insights from The Open University’s world-class research into online teaching and learning and innovative pedagogies and educational technologies.

Knowledge and understanding

On completion of this qualification, you’ll have knowledge and understanding of:

current debates and key theories that practitioners draw on in the field of online teaching and learning design.
a range of pedagogical approaches and educational technologies, the ways in which they can affect online learners, and the potential implications in terms of equitable access, participation, study and life outcomes, and social justice.
the ways in which educational technologies and online pedagogies can be evaluated.
the affordances of different approaches to designing online learning and their suitability for particular contexts and learners’ needs.
the kinds of evidence that inform practice and the evaluation of practice in online teaching and the methods of enquiry, research and scholarship that can be used to collect that evidence.
the ways in which learners’ contexts and needs can have an impact on their opportunities for equitable participation in online learning, and how this can be addressed by educators and institutions.

Cognitive skills

On completion of this qualification, you’ll be able to:

identify and critically evaluate a range of theories relevant to online teaching and learning as the basis for designing equitable teaching, learning and assessment activities that meet diverse learners’ needs.
draw on and critically evaluate a range of formal and informal published works relating to online teaching, learning and assessment, including national and institutional policies, as the basis for recommending appropriate ways of developing curricula to support equitable and accessible online teaching.
critically evaluate the impact of a range of educational technologies, pedagogies and assessment strategies in specified settings and contexts.
reflect on your own learning, and use feedback from peers and others, to develop your study and professional practice.
engage in online collaboration and discussion in order to develop your own and others’ understanding and awareness of diverse practice contexts.
structure and present arguments in formats appropriate to diverse audiences.

Practical and/or professional skills

On completion of this qualification, you’ll be able to:

critically engage with practical and professional skills, and ethical issues, related to online teaching.
draw on a range of evidence to support the choices you make in designing teaching and learning activities.
participate in online networks and communities to enrich your personal and professional development.
reflect critically on your own practice as an educator and use this reflection as the basis for future development of that practice and of your own skills.
identify and critique relevant institutional, national and international policies and legislation and evaluate their significance for a specified online teaching context.
identify the needs and priorities of diverse learners, and especially learners facing disadvantage and marginalisation beyond education.
design teaching content, activities and courses that meet online learners’ needs, and offer equitable participation in learning, within the constraints of a specified professional context.

Key skills

On completion of this qualification, you’ll be able to:

locate, read critically, evaluate and extract value from a range of formal and informal Sources.
collaborate and communicate online to further your own knowledge and understanding and to support others.
accurately and effectively articulate ideas and arguments for informed audiences – for example, through scholarly writing and by contributing to learning communities or networks, using appropriate scholarly structures such as referencing systems.
select, access and use a range of digital practices (including tools and resources) to find, use, create and share data, information and knowledge.
take responsibility for your current and future learning and practice within a supportive framework of your peers and a study advisor or tutor.

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