This short course will outline and demonstrate how to plan and design an online course using the basic course design theories of “backward design,” ADDIE, and alignment. There will also be an introduction to the Quality Matters (QM) Rubric and how it is used at UNG in the course design process. The attendee will study the preparation of learning objectives and how to assess their achievement. This will lay the ground work for the development phase of an online course. This is the first in the "Design and Development of an Online Course" series.