Developing an online course? Pitt EDGE’s instructional designers are here to help.

As these efforts were underway, Story and his collaborators continued to produce the new universal online course template - a flexible framework built inside Pitt's learning management system, Canvas. The template is designed to give students a consistent, accessible learning experience while giving faculty a strong foundation they can adapt to their content and teaching style. It is already being shared across the University and has been embraced by partner schools, including the School of Education.

Drawing on established best practices from organizations such as the Online Learning Consortium and Quality Matters, the focus of templates extends beyond visual design: It includes clarity, accessibility and opportunities for student interaction. One feature of the template Story highlights is its ability to help create a "course rhythm" that outlines recommended daily or weekly tasks, helping students manage time in a virtual environment without a standing in-person class meeting.

[Read more in Pitt Magazine: 50-plus online and hybrid programs extend Pitt's reach virtually anywhere.]

The template also incorporates accessible design elements such as consistent headers and icons, enabling users to better navigate course material. Pitt's IDs welcome partnership with faculty to personalize visual structure and course spaces.

"Each online faculty member will get an instructional designer who will serve as their instructional coach throughout the process," said Rae Mancilla, executive director of University digital education.

Mancilla began her Pitt career as an instructional designer in 2014 and later helped scale online learning initiatives in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, where programs were designed to expand access for rural communities and working professionals. At the University level, her team now works with multiple schools to design cohesive online programs rather than isolated courses.

IDs bring a hybrid skill set to their work. Mancilla describes them as being part learning specialist, part technology expert and part project manager.

"They're miniature project managers of the design process," coordinating course assets while applying learning theory, accessibility standards and online pedagogy, Mancilla said. Just as important are interpersonal skills - building rapport with faculty and keeping decisions focused on the student experience.

That student-centered approach is visible in Story's work. IDs begin with needs assessments and collaborative planning documents that map course outcomes and activities. Then, they build prototype modules in Canvas, revise with faculty feedback and continue updating as necessary.

Story came to instructional design through instruction itself. A former French teacher, he discovered lesson planning - designing engaging and pedagogically sound learning experiences - was the part of the job he loved most.

"What I've always loved about teaching is that creativity," Story said. In his current role, that creativity can mean designing discussion prompts that foster authentic peer learning or balancing interactive projects with exam preparation in technical fields.

The universal template was completed in December 2025 and will debut in courses running in summer 2026. It includes built-in surveys to collect student feedback specifically about design so the framework can evolve.

"We never view something in the instructional design world as totally done," Story said. "It's an iterative process where we take the feedback and make it better."

For Mancilla, the impact is both institutional and personal. Online learning, she said, can act as "an equalizer" - extending Pitt's academic reach to communities and students who might not otherwise access a residential campus.

As university needs change, Mancilla and her team are one part of a larger effort to rethink how education is designed and delivered. Their creativity and their collaboration help ensure that wherever Pitt students log in, they encounter courses built intentionally for learning.

Photography by Tom Altany; Rae Mancilla, executive director of university digital education, with several members of the instructional design team (from left, starting in top row): Dan Pinsky, Robin Albright, Stephen Butler, Lex Drozd, Natalia Echeverry, Jon Hughes, Megan Kappel and Parker Story.