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Quality Matters

is an internationally recognized program dedicated to quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. As a Quality Matters member, UAA offers certified workshops on Improving Your Online Course multiple times a year. We also align our other course design materials to the and Higher Education Rubric. Please email us if you’re interested in learning more about the standards or completing a Quality Matters self-review!

The Quality Matters rubrics and processes are:

• Designed to ensure all courses eventually meet expectations
• Centered on research, student learning, and quality
• Collegial faculty-centered process with balanced and constructive feedback
• Collaborative team-based peer reviews, including the course developer

Improving Your Online Course (IYOC)

Generally offered multiple times a year, this interactive workshop allows participants to evaluate an existing online or hybrid course through the Quality Matters standards and discuss ways to meet the standards. The IYOC workshop is generally offered as a Zoom session that occurs over the course of one full-day or two half-days. Completing this workshop satisfies UAA’s training requirements for teaching an Online - No Set Time course.

Blackboard Ultra

UAA will complete its conversion from Blackboard Original to Blackboard Ultra in Fall 2026. To support faculty throughout this process, we have offered asynchronous trainings as well as Zoom and in-person workshops.

Synchronous Ultra trainings

We also hold in-person and Zoom synchronous trainings, which are available throughout the year. Check out our current offerings below, and watch for more Ultra opportunities in our newsletter. 

Accessibility 

Accessibility is an important consideration for all of our offerings. These programs help faculty improve their course materials, understand our students’ needs, and meet UAA’s Accessibility of Instructional Materials policy.

Make Your Content Accessible

This training supports UAA faculty in ensuring their course content is fully accessible. It focuses on practical knowledge, concepts, and skills related to accessibility, and is intended to complement, not replace, training in areas such as general course design and teaching best practices. The training should take less than 3 hours to complete. 

Accessibility Afternoons

Join the UAA Instructional Design team online on the last Thursday of the month at 1 p.m. for a half-hour, topic-focused workshop on making your content accessible. Each month we’ll look at a different topic related to accessibility (and we’ll have content on that topic in our Faculty Success newsletter throughout the month as well). Register to be added to the calendar event, receive the recordings after the fact, and submit any questions you have on the topic. 

After the workshop from 1:30 - 2 p.m., the will be open for any general accessibility support. This might be general questions, a shared virtual workspace, or an opportunity to bring a document or piece of content and work one-on-one with an Instructional Designer to make it more accessible.

For recordings from past Accessibility Afternoons, check out our playlists. For information about past recordings and future session topics, refer to the .

Course Design

We regularly present course design and teaching technologies at the Teaching Academy, New Faculty Orientation, and Adjunct Orientation. Please visit our page to see upcoming sessions and events. 

Teaching Academy recordings

The Teaching Academy provides faculty development and instructional support opportunities. We record the teaching academies, and recordings can be found on our Teaching Academy page through the  (UA only).

Visit Teaching Academy page

Course Design Trail Guides

The Trail Guides were a 2018-20 project to create asynchronous professional development course design modules to expand faculty's knowledge and skill with course design and development. Although the modules focus on online learning, the design process and resources also apply to courses delivered on campus. They were designed to be flexible and efficient, so users can choose which sections to complete and each module functions as a stand-alone activity.

Each module walks through key concepts and UAA resources to build an effective course. Please note that some of the UAA information is dated, particularly regarding the Bookstore. The modules include lots of optional materials such as UAA faculty examples, pedagogic background briefs, links to additional resources, comprehension checks, and interactive course planning tools.