Online teaching is not a side project at UMKC. It is a core way students access learning, and it asks faculty to design with extra intentionality around clarity, presence, accessibility, and support. Digital Instruction and Design strengthens online teaching through campus-owned quality systems and faculty pathways that make excellent online learning consistent, scalable, and sustainable. Whether you are building your first online course or updating a course you have taught for years, this pillar helps you move from good intentions to a course that works well for students and feels teachable for you.
Within Digital Instruction and Design, CAFE connects instructional design support to a clear quality pathway. Faculty build skills through short learning experiences, apply those skills to a real course, receive structured feedback through review, and earn recognition through certification and recertification. This pathway uses a structured design cycle while evaluating courses against national benchmarks. The result is not only stronger online teaching but also sustained quality over time and a clearer experience for students.
Programs
- QUALITY COURSE REVIEW
UMKC’s Quality Course Review process provides diagnostic feedback and peer review using established standards. Faculty receive actionable recommendations focused on alignment, accessibility, and student engagement. When a course meets certification expectations, faculty earn recognition that signals quality to students and academic leaders. CAFE will also support chair and associate dean visibility into the review pipeline through a dashboard that makes status and outcomes easier to review. CAFE completes a formative review with instructional design support, then conducts a final rubric-based evaluation through a peer review step using trained reviewers calibrated to apply the standards consistently. ADDIE-Based Faculty Learning Community
The ADDIE FLC supports faculty who are redesigning or strengthening an online course through a structured cycle of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. Participants set goals, build and test course elements, prepare for review, and reflect on outcomes. The FLC can serve as an integrated route for faculty completing OTCS while preparing a course for Quality Course Review.- ONLINE TEACHING CERTIFICATION SEMINAR
The Online Teaching Certification Seminar supports faculty (as well as graduate teaching assistants) who are new to online or hybrid teaching through a cohort-based experience that blends learning and course-building. Faculty apply online teaching practices directly to their own courses while building community with colleagues across disciplines. The seminar emphasizes practical course design, instructional presence, and student support strategies that translate into immediate course improvements. - FLEXIBLE ONLINE TEACHING RECERTIFICATION
Flexible Online Teaching Recertification supports faculty and other instructors in revisiting and refreshing online courses over time as required for accreditation. Faculty review course effectiveness, update design and accessibility practices, and incorporate feedback and evolving best practices. Recertification reinforces the idea that online teaching quality is not a one-time achievement. It is an ongoing professional practice. - SELF-PACED CANVAS CATALOG COURSES AND SPRINTS
Short, self-paced courses and sprints provide targeted support for common online teaching needs, including digital accessibility and course design essentials. Faculty can complete these modules on their own schedule and use them as an on-ramp to deeper engagement through certification, recertification, course review, and consultations.