This book provides a practical guide to designing engaging and effective online learning experiences. It emphasizes that learner-centered design is a shared responsibility requiring collaboration among instructors, instructional designers, and administrators to establish the conditions necessary for quality online education. A central contribution of the text is its integrated instructional design process, which brings together key models, approaches, and established instructional events into a flexible framework for online and blended learning. This ecosystem perspective highlights how design decisions, teaching practices, and institutional alignment work together to support learner persistence and success. Written for instructors, instructional designers, and administrators across higher education and professional contexts, the book includes applied tools, templates, and reflection prompts that bridge theory and practice and support improvement in online teaching and learning.
Introduction: The Modern Online Learning Landscape.
Chapter 1:
Understanding Online Learners: Intentions, Needs and Barriers to Success.-
Chapter 2: Assessing Resources and Support Systems for Learner Success.-
Chapter 3: Preparing for Success in Online Teaching: Knowledge and Skill
Development.- Chapter 4: Designing a Cohesive Online Course: Content and
Structure Essentials.
Chapter 5: Designing, Developing, and Organizing
Online Course Materials.
Chapter 6: Creating Interactive and Engaging Online
Learning Experiences.
Chapter 7: Developing Assessments and Providing
Feedback in Online Courses.
Chapter 8: Launching an Online Course: Essential
Preparations for the First Week.
Chapter 9: Fostering a Dynamic Online
Learning Environment through Engagement and Presence.
Chapter 10: Evaluating
Online Course Impact: Learner Feedback, Course Analytics, and Assessment
Outcomes.
Chapter 11: Refining and Enhancing an Online Course.
Chapter 12:
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Online Learning Environments.
Jacqueline S. Stephen is an accomplished instructional designer, educator, and scholar-practitioner with more than 20 years of national and international experience in higher education. She holds an Ed.D. in Instruction and Curricular Leadership with a concentration in Instructional Design and Technology from The University of Memphis, an M.S. in Instructional Technology, and a B.S. in Elementary Education from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. She serves as Assistant Professor of Instructional Design and Director of Instructional and Learning Design in the College of Professional Advancement at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Her research advances quality and equity in online education, with a focus on instructor and learner readiness, high-impact practices in learner-centered course design, online learner persistence, and the alignment of employability skills with academic coursework. She has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes and received the American Educational Research Associations 2021 Distinguished Research Paper Award on Mentorship and Mentoring Practices. Dr. Stephen is the co-editor of Global Perspectives on Higher Education: From Crisis to Opportunity (2023), featuring contributions from scholars across 20 countries, and the author of Academic Success in Online Programs: A Resource for College Students (2024), a practical guide to supporting persistence and success in online learning. Her global engagement includes a Fulbright U.S. Scholar (2023) award to teach in Azerbaijan and a Fulbright Specialist (2023) award supporting the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice in Timor-Leste.
