Phases of Engagement: Visual Guide for Online Teaching
Projects | | Links:
Instructional Design, UDL, Engagement
My Role Instructional Designer
Target Audience Online Instructors at College of Education and Human Sciences, OSU
Tool Used Canva
What I Did In this project I developed an infographic that visualizes different phases of student engagement in online courses and offers concrete examples of activities appropriate to each phase. I drew on engagement and online learning literature to identify a simple, intuitive progression that instructors could quickly understand. I then translated these ideas into a visual format, selecting a muted color palette and clear typography that aligns with my overall academic brand. For each phase, I included short descriptions and example strategies such as early icebreakers, ongoing discussion prompts, collaborative projects, and reflective wrap-up activities. The goal was to create a resource that could be glanced at quickly but also serve as a reference when planning or revising an online course.
Reflections and Future Improvements Designing this visual guide highlighted how powerful visuals can be in making abstract concepts more accessible to busy instructors. I learned the importance of balancing theoretical accuracy with practical simplicity; including too much detail would have made the infographic overwhelming, but oversimplification might reduce its usefulness. If I expand this work, I would like to pair the infographic with a short explanatory guide or mini-workshop that helps instructors adapt the phases to their specific disciplines and course formats. I would also consider developing discipline-specific versions co-created with faculty, as well as interactive digital versions where instructors can click into each phase to see sample activities, templates, or short case examples.
