Blackboard Exemplary Courses

Check out these course exemplars for design ideas!

There is no single best approach to the design of an online or hybrid course because instruction is contextual and depends on a number of factors working well together. The folks at Blackboard recognize the contextual nature of course design and have identified exemplary courses from a variety of disciplines as high quality given key characteristics such as course design, interaction and collaboration, assessment, and learner support.

The following course tours model best practices in course design using a variety of pedagogical approaches. You'll notice some fundamental similarities throughout, such as course content broken into modules, getting started pages that introduce students to the course, clearly communicated learning objectives, and a focus on meaningful interaction. What is most notable, however, is the unique approaches instructors take to further build their instruction upon that foundation of course design basics. Take a tour of one or more of these courses to spark ideas for your own course design!

Visit the Exemplary Course Program website to learn more about the program, view the rubric used to determine the winners, and the list of 2026 winners. The first four course tours below highlight the 2026 winning courses developed in Ultra.