Designing Online Lessons

Discover how online learning can expand opportunities for students in myriad ways and help you individualize and personalize instruction for students of all ages.

By moving some or all of our instruction online, we can keep the learning going during a crisis or when inclement weather keeps students and staff at home. Online learning can also provide an alternate pathway to success for students who are not thriving in a traditional setting. We can also use online learning to help students stay on track to graduate, or apply it to better meet the needs of students through personalization.

Inspired by the author's book The Perfect Blend and her ISTE U Microcourse "Designing Online Learning Experiences," this guide helps you get up and running with online lesson design, covering topics such as:

Synchronous and asynchronous online instruction.
Selecting the best tools for online learning.
Formative assessment and online lesson design.
Supporting student agency in the digital classroom.
Self-regulation and your personalized classroom.
Design considerations such as navigation, color and fonts.


Get tips for designing and facilitating effective, impactful lessons for a digital classroom and incorporating student agency into online lessons.

(ISTE Jump Start Guide, 8.5" x 11", three laminated panels, six pages)

Audience: K-12 educators