Online Student Guide
RISD CE is committed to providing students with the resources and support to help our students succeed.
The following guide serves as a summary for prospective students on how to prepare for and engage with an online course. Note: Once you register for a course, you’ll review a Student Orientation (accessible via Canvas) that will include additional information such as Canvas basics, technology requirements, and more. You will receive an email prior to the start of your course with steps to set up your Canvas account.

Online Instruction Formats
Your online course will follow one of two formats: Asynchronous Online Course or Asynchronous Online Course with Live Sessions.
Asynchronous Online Course
All of our courses for adults (ages 18+) are Asynchronous Online, with the exception of certificate Final Studio courses, which are Asynchronous Online with Live Sessions.
Asynchronous online courses can be taken anywhere in the world and at any time of the day or night, as there are no required meeting times. Course content is delivered weekly through Canvas, our learning management system, where you will:
- Learn from video demonstrations
- Read through course material
- Respond to discussion topics
- Share in-process and finished work
- Receive feedback from your instructors and classmates
Coursework is flexible and can be done on your own time, as long as it is completed within the assignment period. While this learning option offers great flexibility, the courses are not self-paced, and you will need to check in regularly to keep up with the workload.
See example (below) of a schedule for an asynchronous online course. When viewing the course information on our course registration system, you will see Online, Asynchronous listed under Type. Note that there are no scheduled meeting times.

Asynchronous Online Course with Live Sessions
Online, Live Sessions are only available for our Teen Online courses and Advanced Program Online.
Asynchronous online courses with live sessions are a blend of asynchronous (recorded) and synchronous (live) activities. You will interact with your instructor and classmates in two ways: through Canvas (explained above) and through live Zoom meeting times. This means:
- Zoom meetings will be at a set date and time in Eastern Time. Meeting schedules are listed in the section details, and you are required to attend and participate in the scheduled live meeting times.
- In addition to Zoom meetings, you will log into Canvas to post images of your work, participate in discussion boards, watch demos and tutorials and keep pace with assignments.
- You’ll have access to the online course content any time of day or night.
- The majority of class content, assignments, demonstrations and tutorials will be in Canvas.
See example (below) of a schedule for an asynchronous online course with live sessions. When viewing the course information on our course registration system, you will see both Online, Asynchronous and Online, Live Sessions listed under Type. Select View Details under Schedule and Location for a comprehensive schedule. The full online, asynchronous schedule of April 22–May 28 is supplemented with five online, live meeting times (Mondays, April 24, May 1, 8, 15 and 22, from 7–8 pm ET).


Dedicated Workspace
Having dedicated work, documentation and presentation areas is essential to support your creativity and class requirements. Most students do not have access to an art studio, nor is it required to create work for your class. Prior to the start of class, create the following areas that you will have continual access to throughout the course program:

Creative workspace photo courtesy of RISD CE online student Kristeen Beasey.

Creative workspace photo courtesy of RISD CE online student Jennie Carson.
Engaging in Your Online Course
In order to successfully engage in online learning you should:
- Enroll and log into Canvas prior to the first day of class and learn how to navigate the course pages.
- Review all course content: syllabus, demos, videos and other resources.
- Pay attention to and plan your workload in order to meet deadlines (late and incomplete work may not be accepted by your instructor)
- Plan to log into the course daily to keep up with new materials and information.
- Participate in discussions in the discussion boards, which is required for course engagement
- Be aware that non-engagement with the class will result in an instructor being unable to provide robust feedback, which can result in a non-passing grade.
Communication
Proactive and coherent communication during the course is essential. You should follow all instructions on how, when and where to communicate. Administrative staff and instructors are ready to help students but, in the online space, they are unable to pick up on non-verbal cues, such as a look of confusion on a student’s face. Follow these tips: