University Requirements
University Requirements

Below are additional university requirements to consider when putting together an online course.
Copyright and Fair Use
It is important to take copyright and fair use into consideration when compiling your course content. Note that academic use of things like movies and documentaries is different in the online classroom.
Ultimately, it is your responsibility to decide if the content you use falls under fair use or if you need to make other arrangements for students to use it. Resources are available at the OU Libraries to help in determining fair use .
ADA Compliance
All of the content you create in Canvas must be ADA compliant. This includes, but is not limited to, document and page format, captioning of videos, alt tags for imges. For more information, please see see OU's Accessibility and Disability Resource Center (ARDC) website.
Canvas also has a tool available for checking accessibility. Please view this guide for more information: How do I use the Accessibility Checker. Links to an external site.
General Education Requirements
Are you developing a General Education (Gen Ed) course? If so, it must meet the Provost’s Advisory Committee for General Education Oversight (PACGEO) requirements.
These include, but are not limited to the following:
- writing assignments,
- consistency across sections, and
- course focused on critical analysis of the topic(s).
Please visit the General Education Faculty Resources page to learn more about the requirements for your core area by viewing the specific area proposal form.
OU's Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)
The Center for Faculty Excellence is a great resource for those developing online courses. One of their goals is to provide support and skill development to help faculty enhance their teaching, including in the online environment. Their website provides information on key components of the online syllabus, online teaching concerns and coping strategies, help with teaching large online courses, and much, much more.
>> Next we will take a look at college requirements and best practices.