This session will provide a summary of the findings of a doctoral research on designing a protocol for developmental observation of online asynchronous teaching. This research has delved into providing pedagogical support to online instructors so that they can get better at online teaching regardless of their level of experience and knowledge in this field.

Educational developers can use the protocol as a guide to observe a specific area of teaching in a relatively short time frame. Observations lead to incremental development plans for instructors. The protocol includes definition and description of observable teaching practices in asynchronous environments based on the three elements of a Community of Inquiry (CoI): Social, Cognitive, and Teaching Presences (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). The six key elements of this evidence-based protocol will be presented, as well as the critical roles of educational developers, online instructors and the higher education institution in rendering the observations developmental.