Online courses

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: This article is incomplete and under construction. Direct questions to TLT (tlt@winona.edu).

What's considered an online course?

Minnesota State classifies an online course as one in which less than 25% of the required faculty contact and direct instruction time is delivered in-person. Courses are classified as Mostly Online if there are one or two required in-person meetings during the semester, while Completely Online courses include no required in-person meetings. Online courses are further subdivided into Synchronous and Asynchronous categories. While most online courses include a mixture of synchronous (e.g., Zoom meetings) and asynchronous (e.g., email, discussion boards) contact, a Synchronous online course includes scheduled, required online meetings, whereas an Asynchronous online course does not. Note that "asynchronous" does not mean "self-guided." In Asynchronous online courses, teachers spend just as much time communicating with students and guiding their learning as they would in a fully in-person course or a Synchronous online course. Consult additional information about Minnesota State course classifications or Media Codes as needed.

Example - Mostly Online Synchronous

A PSYC 210 instructor decides to teach the course mostly online, meeting in Zoom with all 70 of her students at the regularly scheduled time. She schedules an in-person orientation meeting the first week of the semester and an in-person final exam the last week. In order to meet safely, she divides the class into thirds and meets with each smaller group in-person for the orientation and final.

Example - Completely Online Asynchronous

A PSYC 210 instructor decides to teach the course completely online, requiring no in-person classroom meetings. She uses Zoom to support optional office hours and study sessions, but the rest of her contact with students is asynchronous through email, discussion topics, and instant messaging using Microsoft Teams. She posts a new announcement video in Brightspace every Monday morning to keep students on track and stay connected.