Developing an Online Course

In accordance with the AFT 2121 Contract and Title 5, City College of San Francisco requires instructors to train to teach online and to be approved for each course that is developed for online delivery. Below is more information. 

Training Cycles

The Office of Online Learning and Educational Technology typically have 1-2 training cohorts per semester (with a smaller cohort in Summers, pending funding). Online training is typically completed the semester before the faculty is scheduled to teach online. For example, if a chair schedules a faculty member to teach online in Fall, they should complete the online training in the Spring or Summer before fall. See the cycle dates for future semesters below. 

  • Summer 2024 Cycle
  • Fall 2024 Cycle
  • Spring 2024 Cycle
Process for Developing an Online Class

The Office of Online Learning and Educational Technology Department support faculty in the development of all credit and noncredit online classes offered at CCSF.

First, work with your Department Chair to select a class 

  1. Faculty need to be Canvas Ready, meaning that they have some level of proficiency with using Canvas in their class. To be Canvas Ready, faculty must either have successfully passed the Temporary Distance Learning Training at CCSF, or completed the self-paced Introduction to Canvas Course and sent the badge to canvasfaculty@ccsf.edu. 

Is there an active DEA for the course you want to teach online? Review the DEA with your Department Chair. Does the DEA match how you will teach (and how the chair will schedule) the course? 

If there is an active and updated DEA, you can skip to Step 4. 

Follow all Curriculum Committee guidelines for submitting a DEA. The DEA must be at the Post Technical Review level before going to Step 4. 

Apply to be in the CCSF online training or apply for online equivalency (for non-CCSF online training). 

Locate the current application in the sidebar of this page. 

The Distance Learning Advisory Committee (DLAC), an Academic Senate Committee, reviews and recommends faculty applications to develop an online course. Recommendations are made to the Office of Online Learning and Educational Technology (OLET). In consultation with appropriate administrators, OLET manages the award decisions.

The Office of Online Learning and Educational Technology manages the development of online classes per the AFT 2121 contract, Exhibit N. We also work with departments who receive grant funding to develop online classes. 

The Office of Online Learning will notify the applicant by the end of the semester in which the faculty applied. 

Before teaching an online course, a faculty member must participate in District mandated training. New faculty are required to successfully complete the Introduction to Online Teaching and Learning (IOTL). The IOTL is a faculty designed and taught training based on the latest research in online learning and California Community College State Chancellor's Office initiatives. 

About Online Training explains each of the online training classes at CCSF. 

Faculty must pass all checkpoints with at least an 80% in order to pass the training. Training must be completed in the semester the training begins (e.g., Fall 2023 training should be completed in Fall 2023).

Your Department Chair can schedule you an online class the semester following your completion of online training. Congrats!

Note: A fully approved DEA must be in the effective semester in order for the chair to schedule the online class.