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Adopt an online course

You don’t have to start from scratch when preparing to teach an online course.

Course adoption allows you to begin with an existing PCC online course that has already been designed around course outcomes, online learning requirements, and accessibility expectations. You’ll work with Online Learning to prepare the course for your teaching term and personalize it for your students and teaching approach.

What does it mean to adopt a course?

When you adopt a course, you begin with an existing PCC course rather than building a new online course from the ground up.

The course provides an established structure, learning activities, assessments, and alignment to course outcomes, giving you a strong starting point for your teaching term.

Adoption does not mean teaching someone else’s course exactly as they would. You’ll have opportunities to personalize the course with your own instructor presence, examples, resources, announcements, communication practices, and teaching approach.

Your instructional designer will help you make appropriate changes while preserving the course’s overall structure, alignment, accessibility, and student experience.

When might course adoption be a good option?

Course adoption can be helpful when you:

• are preparing to teach a course online for the first time;
• are teaching the course in an online modality;
• would like to begin with an established PCC course rather than build one yourself;
• want to adapt an existing course for your students or teaching context; or
• need to prepare an online course within a limited amount of time.

If you have already taught the course in another modality, Online Learning may also be able to work with you to adapt your existing course. For example, a course previously taught with scheduled online meetings may be adapted for Online No Scheduled Meetings (ONSM).

I’ve been asked to teach a course online

If you’re assigned an Online No Scheduled Meetings (ONSM) course that you haven’t taught in that modality before, an adoption will part of the preparation process. Your FDC or Program Dean must submit the adoption request to Online Learning. Once the request is submitted, we’ll work with you to identify and prepare an appropriate course for your teaching assignment.  If you haven’t heard from Online Learning about next steps, contact your FDC or Program Dean.

Online Adoption at a glance

We partner with you to make an existing online course your own, so you can focus on what matters most: your students.

What to expect

1. Identify a course to adopt

   Online Learning works with your academic program to identify an appropriate PCC course that can serve as the starting point.

   When possible, we use an existing shareable course. If an appropriate course is not available, Online Learning and your academic program will work together to identify another approach.

2. Prepare the course

   An instructional designer reviews and refreshes the adopted course to make sure key design and accessibility elements are up to date.

   The amount of preparation possible depends in part on how much time is available before the course begins.

3. Personalize your course

   You’ll work with an instructional designer to prepare the course for your teaching term and make appropriate customizations.

   You should plan to spend time reviewing the course, becoming familiar with its activities and assessments, updating instructor-specific information, and preparing it for your students—just as you would prepare any course you are assigned to teach.

   Course preparation is considered part of regular instructor workload and is not stipend-bearing.

4. Complete a course quality review

   Before the course is taught, Online Learning reviews the prepared course for online course quality and readiness.

   Your Project Manager communicates completion of the adoption process and the review results to your Faculty Department Chair and Program Dean.

Planning ahead makes a difference

The more preparation time available, the more opportunity you have to become familiar with the course and thoughtfully personalize it before students arrive.

When an instructor is assigned shortly before the beginning of a term, Online Learning will focus first on the changes necessary to make the course ready for students. Additional improvements and personalization can continue over time.

If you know you will be teaching an online course in an upcoming term, beginning the adoption process early gives you and your instructional designer more options.