History of SUNY Online Teaching

SUNY Online Teaching has its roots in more than three decades of system-wide innovation in online education at the State University of New York. What began as an ambitious experiment in large-scale online learning evolved into a nationally recognized model for faculty development, instructional design, and online course quality—one that continues to shape online teaching practices across SUNY and beyond.

This overview highlights key moments in the evolution of SUNY Online Teaching. Visitors interested in learning more are invited to explore the historical pages in the menu to the right.

Together, these pages document how SUNY Online Teaching’s past informs its present—and continues to shape the future of online education.

Explore the History in Depth

From SLN to Open SUNY to SUNY Online

SUNY Learning Network (SLN): 1994–2014

The SUNY Learning Network (SLN) was launched in 1994 as one of the earliest large-scale, system-coordinated online learning initiatives in U.S. higher education. At its core, SLN was not simply a technology project—it was a faculty-centered, pedagogy-driven model designed to support high-quality online teaching at scale.

SLN established a centralized yet collaborative approach to online faculty development and instructional design. Faculty were supported as course creators, partnered with online instructional designers, and guided through a structured development process grounded in research on teaching and learning. This work resulted in a distinctive approach to online course design, faculty preparation, and quality assurance that became widely influential.

Open SUNY: 2014–2017

In 2014, SLN transitioned into Open SUNY, expanding the system’s online education strategy while preserving SLN’s foundational commitments to pedagogy, quality, and faculty support. During this period, the Open SUNY Center for Online Teaching Excellence (COTE) continued to develop tools, resources, and professional learning opportunities that supported campuses, instructional designers, and faculty across SUNY.

This phase emphasized openness, scalability, and cross-campus collaboration—strengthening SUNY’s system-wide online teaching community while responding to evolving institutional needs.

SUNY Online and SUNY Online Teaching: 2018–Present

In 2018, Open SUNY became SUNY Online, aligning online education efforts more closely with system-wide academic and strategic priorities. The Open SUNY Center for Online Teaching Excellence evolved into SUNY Online Teaching, continuing its long-standing role as the system’s hub for online teaching expertise, faculty development, and instructional design leadership.

Today, SUNY Online Teaching builds on this legacy while advancing new initiatives in online course quality, inclusive teaching, professional learning communities, and research-informed innovation. While tools and platforms have changed over time, the core principles established in the SLN era—pedagogy first, faculty as course creators, instructional designer partnership, and continuous improvement—remain central to our work.

A Lasting Influence on Online Teaching Practice

Many features now common in SUNY online courses can be traced directly to SLN’s original faculty development and course design models. These include:

Clearly structured course information and expectations.
Modular course organization with orienting overviews.
Purposeful spaces for questions, interaction, and community.
Emphasis on culminating learning activities and authentic assessment.

Over the years, SUNY Online Teaching has worked closely with more than 40 SUNY campuses, supporting thousands of faculty and mentoring hundreds of instructional designers. This sustained effort helped professionalize the role of the online instructional designer across the system and fostered a shared language and practice around quality online teaching.

The influence of this work continues to be visible in online course designs, faculty development programs, and teaching practices across SUNY institutions.