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Preparing to Teach Distance Courses

Teaching in a distance format shares many features with in-person teaching, but it also requires different strategies for interacting with students, presenting course content, and engaging students in achieving course learning objectives. Therefore, any instructor assigned to teach a distance course (in any format) at SLU must demonstrate that they “are appropriately prepared to teach in the distance education environment” (University Policy for Distance Education). 

Note: this requirement focuses on distance pedagogies; training on how to use a learning management system (e.g., Canvas, Blackboard, etc.) does not satisfy this requirement.

Faculty may gain the necessary preparation by completing:

  • The Reinert Center’s Introduction to Distance Teaching seminar. This is a two-week, fully online, asynchronous course designed to provide a foundation for effective teaching distance courses at SLU.
  • A comparable distance education teaching preparation program offered within the SLU school/college in which faculty are teaching (e.g., faculty teaching in the School for Professional Studies complete the SPS online course, Foundations in Online Teaching).
  • An external course or certification program focused on effective online pedagogy (e.g., OLC Online Teaching Certificate Program, Quality Matters Teaching Online Certificate).
  • A comparable online/distance teaching preparation program at a university other than Saint Louis University, for which learning outcomes are comparable to the Reinert Center’s online seminar, Introduction to Distance Teaching.

The Distance Education Office maintains a list of faculty who have successfully met this requirement. 

When faculty members are first assigned to teach a distance course at SLU, the Distance Education Office will contact them to document their preparation in distance education. Those who have not received appropriate preparation will be expected to register for the Reinert Center’s Introduction to Distance Teaching seminar or a comparable preparation program in distance pedagogy. 

Faculty who have already completed a comparable development program may submit evidence of that prior preparation (e.g., certificate, letter) with the Documenting Distance Teaching Preparation Form. (Note: you must log in to MySLU/SLU Google using your SLU username and password to access the form.)