Mason Online advances George Mason University’s mission by supporting the development and delivery of high-quality online courses and programs. Our team partners with faculty, academic units, and university leadership to ensure that online education is accessible, engaging, and aligned with institutional standards for excellence.
Why Partner with Mason Online?
When you partner with Mason Online, you work alongside experienced instructional designers who are committed to helping faculty create high-quality, student-centered online courses, both synchronous and asynchronous. Our team brings expertise in online learning, curriculum design, and faculty development, and we collaborate with units from across the university to tailor solutions that meet the specific disciplinary needs.
Working with an instructional designer can:
- Enhance course organization, navigation, and usability, improving the overall learning experience for students.
- Strengthen the quality of media and instructional materials to better support course objectives.
- Increase instructor presence and foster student engagement through intentional course design strategies.
- Improve consistency across a program to support student progression and satisfaction.
- Ensure course quality, accessibility, and inclusive design standards are met, aligning courses with university and accreditation expectations.
Our Core Services
Course Development: Ideal for faculty seeking comprehensive design support for new or existing course development efforts. Projects include a formal needs assessment, aligning measurable learning outcomes with assessments and activities. Faculty engage in regular working meetings with an instructional designer, with support for creating all types of media – including interactive objects and deployment of third-party tools or publisher resources, as needed – assessment design, engagement and motivation strategies, and extensive assistance with building it all in Canvas. All courses undergo a quality review during the pilot semester.
Course Element Design: Ideal for faculty looking to update or improve a specific aspect of their course. Projects include an initial consultation to discuss development needs and current challenges. Faculty engage in regular working meetings with an instructional designer, with support for creating the new course element, including assistance building it in Canvas.
- Collaboration with faculty or small cohorts to (re)design course elements, including assessments, group activities, rubrics and other instructional materials.
- Consult on assignment scaffolding, authentic assessment design, and integration of feedback loops to enhance student learning.
- Projects are taken on a rolling basis; though, they are ideal summer projects.
Faculty Consultation and Support: Ideal for faculty seeking answers to specific questions, such as identifying the best tool for a specific assignment, discussing ways to improve an existing course, or blending synchronous and asynchronous course components. Ad hoc consultations are usually one hour and are held via Zoom.
- Provide 1:1 consultation on course design, pedagogy, and effective instructional practices.
- Assist faculty in aligning course outcomes, activities, and assessments for online learning environments.
Online Course Quality Reviews: Ideal for faculty or departments looking to strengthen course quality, improve program consistency, or prepare for accreditation reviews. Each review includes a detailed feedback report and optional follow-up consultations to discuss recommendations and strategies for improvement.
- Individual Course Reviews: Faculty can request a review of their course to receive structured feedback on organization, navigation, instructional materials, accessibility, engagement strategies, and assessment alignment. Reviews are ideal for faculty preparing for upcoming course offerings or seeking to improve student learning outcomes.
- Departmental Reviews: Academic units can request comprehensive quality reviews for multiple courses within a program or department. Departmental reviews help support program consistency, accreditation preparation, and continuous improvement initiatives. Reach out directly to Charlie Kreitzer, Executive Director, Mason Online: [email protected] to discuss programmatic reviews.