Frequently Asked Questions

A: ACU Online courses are specifically designed for online learning. They are delivered via a purpose-built, innovative learning environment by academic staff trained in online teaching. Learning is primarily asynchronous (no classes, no lectures), giving students the flexibility they need to manage their online learning. Course content is presented in manageable segments and students have a range of interactive resources to guide them through each unit. There are four intake periods each year and study periods are eight weeks in length. Students also have access to dedicated human support, specifically tailored to support them in an online environment.

ACU prides itself on offering a welcoming environment for everyone. An online offering can unlock educational opportunity for new communities, especially those facing barriers to accessing an on-campus offering due to work or family commitments, disability or rural geographic location.

We are primarily focused on providing opportunities in postgraduate courses for individuals who are looking to upskill, advance their knowledge or change career. We also provide some undergraduate courses for people who may have had their post-secondary education interrupted.

ACU Online is a campus. We focus on providing all the services students would normally have available as part of a physical campus.

Review the workload allocation document (PDF, 126KB)

Asynchronous learning allows you to learn on your own schedule, within a certain timeframe.

Academic staff teaching ACU Online courses are referred to as online facilitators. Online facilitators are critical to supporting ACU Online students, particularly in building relationships and staying connected to their learning.

Online facilitators are supported with 15 hours of tailored professional learning which begins two weeks prior to the start of term and continues across the eight-week teaching term.

Academic teaching staff will be supported by:

• Online facilitators’ course – six hours of online modules, designed and delivered by the Office of Digital Education, to be completed prior to the start of the delivery period. It is expected that all online facilitators complete this course. The course is fully online and asynchronous. Staff undertake it at their own pace.
• Networked coaching – six hours. Aimed at supporting staff as they deliver ACU Online units, these sessions are collegial and use the ACU Online Practice Note as a guiding document. Staff are welcome to discuss issues and problems. To be completed during the term.
• Community of Practice, Teaching Portfolio – two hours
• Evaluation – one hour

Over the next five years we aim to have all online courses offered through ACU Online.

You can find all our available courses on the ACU Online website. Any new courses to be introduced will complete the course accreditation, amendment and review procedure before they are published to the website and are open to enrolments.

The teaching period is a 10-week term. This is made up of four teaching weeks, a one-week break, four further teaching weeks and then a final assessment week. There are four terms every year with a two-week break between each term.

Mark the ACU Online term dates in your diary.

ACU is set to introduce Canvas, a new and improved Learning Management System (LMS). Canvas is already being used successfully by ACU Online and will be rolled out university-wide by March 2024, replacing our existing LMS, Moodle. The LMS is a major component of LEO (Learning Environment Online).

Canvas is designed to provide an improved user experience for both students and staff. You will find that processes such as unit rollovers, site design and content management are intuitive and simple.

The rollout project will migrate current content from Moodle and staff will have access to training and support to aid the transition to Canvas. Please note that the Canvas rollout is managed by the Centre for Education and Innovation (CEI) directorate.

Read more about the project and view the timeline below. Contact LMSProject@acu.edu.au with any questions.

Academic partners are the ‘academic leads’ who have been selected by a school or faculty to work with the Digital Learning Design team to provide subject matter expertise and academic oversight in the creation and development of units for ACU Online.

Once units and academic partners have been confirmed by the faculties, the Digital Learning Design team will be in contact to discuss requirements. Academic partners will then be given an onboarding session to address any questions or concerns, to discuss key timelines and milestones, and hear insight into the experience.

Unit development occurs in the 10-week period prior to the beginning of the teaching term. For example, if a unit is to be delivered in Term 3, unit development will commence in Term 2.

Once onboarded, academic partners will be supported by a dedicated unit lead(s). Their first major touchpoint will be a co-creation workshop where assessments and the prioritised scope of work will be confirmed.

The Digital Learning Design team will be responsible for the ‘heavy lifting’ in Canvas, with opportunities for academic partners to review units while they’re being set up. Once unit development is complete, academic partners will then provide academic sign off.

Units are released to students during Orientation Week. After this point, once a unit is live, it will only be changed in exceptional circumstances. This is to ensure the integrity of data and an equitable experience across all online programs.

ACU Online works with the Disability Services team to assist in any Education Inclusion Plans (EIP) and cater to students who have registered for disability support at any time throughout their studies with ACU.

All ACU Online courses have been developed to comply with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. At a high level, this means that students who have additional requirements can retrieve alternative versions of content that ACU Online owns the copyright for. All multimedia materials that have been created by ACU Online (videos, podcasts, interactive learning activities) have text alternatives provided.

In addition, ACU Online ensures teaching staff are aware of additional measures they can take to meet accessibility needs. In our online facilitator training, we specify the settings needed to ensure auto-captioning is enabled for all Zoom recordings.

For students who identify as having a health condition or disability that impacts their learning experience, ACU Online ensures alternatives of all learning material is made available on a week-by-week basis (e.g. transcripts of third-party videos are provided one-on-one to the student ahead of time).

ACU Online provides a network of human support for students, in addition to our online facilitators.

The network consists of: 

• Future students: This experienced student recruitment team uses a CRM system to deliver a high-touch concierge experience throughout the enrolment process.  
• AskACU Online: Once students are enrolled, they are supported by a multi-channel, dedicated AskACU Online team through phone, SMS, email or live chat. They are available seven days a week to answer any queries related to enrolment, fees, IT and amendments to study load. This team liaises with other teams across the university to resolve queries and give students access to our many other support channels (Academic Skills, Counselling, ACU Life, etc.). 
• Launch into learning: Enrolled students have immediate access to an engaging and thorough online orientation that equips them with the skills and confidence they need to succeed in online study.    
• Student success coaches: Our coaches provide students with proactive ongoing support throughout their studies.  
• Academic Skills Unit: The team helps our students build the necessary habits for successful university study, supports their skill development and provides a range of useful resources.
• Studiosity online support: Students have access to the service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with the option of discussing their work with a tutor.
• Learning analytics: The support model uses data and analytics to continually improve student engagement and retention activities.