Resources
Click Here for Book Review Abstract: In recent years there has been a renewed interest in textbooks, partly because they have maintained their position as an important genre. Not too many years ago – and perhaps currently as well – many considered textbooks outdated or archaic compared with technological advances such as the Internet and different kinds of educational software. Despite these changes, textbooks for school subjects and for academic studies continue to be in demand. Textbooks seem to constitute a genre in which established truths are conveyed, and may thus represent stable forces in a world of flux and rapid changes. Textbook Gods offers perspectives on representations of religion and religions in textbooks. The contributions emerge from different contexts, ranging from European countries, to North America, Japan and Australia. (From the Publisher)
A user-friendly and practical tool to assist faculty in planning and implementing online courses. Based on the principles of teaching and learning proposed by Chickering & Gamson (1987): Student-Faculty Contact, Cooperation Among Students, Active Learning, Prompt Feedback, Time on Task, High Expectations, and Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning. 
University of Tennessee (Knoxville) site with a “course design chart” to guide you through the instructional design steps of analyzing, designing, developing delivering, and evaluating an online course. Plus a compendium of teaching tools and a glossary of definitions.
In an attempt to build a better "intensive course," Torma "does the math" on credit hours, student-directed learning, and instructor-directed learning. This piece provides a helpful framework for anyone working through "seat hour" issues regarding fully online courses, blended/hybrid courses, face-to-face "intensives," or other game-changing learning contexts.
The "School of the Future" (grades 6-12) describes "authentic assessment" as involving performances that are 1) real-life, 2) engaging for learners, and 3) requiring synthesis and critical thinking. Narrators situate "authentic assessment" in the context of "backward course design."
A comparison of traditional ("forced-choice") assessment and authentic (performance-based) assessment. "Teaching to the test" ceases to be a problem when the test involves the performance of meaningful tasks that provide evidence of the understandings desired.
Excerpts from a post by Marilla Svinicki of University of Texas at Austin for the National Teaching and Learning Forum. Discusses some of the benefits of flipped classrooms. Argues that the flipped classroom is not easy or new. Hosted on Stanford University's Teaching Commons.
How to extract "big picture" open-ended discussion questions (what Understanding by Design calls "Essential Questions") from one's stated learning goals, and to embed them into the syllabus and the course activities.
Grant Wiggins, one of the developers of "Understanding by Design," proposes standards for course design and offers "prompts" toward a purposefully-designed course. Part of a series of blog posts on the topic.