WGU D660: Instructional Technology and Online Pedagogy

What D660 Is and Why It Sits in Your Program

Instructional Technology and Online Pedagogy (course code D660) is a performance-based course in WGU's School of Education. It shows up in teacher-preparation and elementary education programs, where the goal is to prepare you to teach in the digital classrooms that are now a normal part of K-12 and adult learning. Rather than testing you with a proctored multiple-choice exam, D660 asks you to do the work of a modern teacher: design instruction for an online setting, choose technology that genuinely supports learning, and then demonstrate that you can deliver it.

Direct answer: To pass D660, work backward from the task rubrics, build standards-aligned lesson plans designed specifically for an online classroom, and record a clean, requirement-by-requirement video of your instruction. There is nothing to cram — your grade comes from artifacts that match every rubric point, not from memorization.

Most students who take D660 are working toward a teaching license or an education degree and have already touched foundational courses on learning theory and lesson design. This course matters because it bridges the gap between knowing pedagogy and applying it through technology. The habits you build here — aligning to standards, planning for accessibility, and reflecting on your own teaching on camera — carry directly into student teaching and your first classroom.

What the Performance Assessment Covers

D660 is assessed entirely through performance tasks (a PA), not an objective exam. Across those tasks you produce teaching artifacts and a recorded demonstration. Based on public course descriptions and student discussion, the material centers on these areas:

• Online and blended pedagogy — how instruction changes when the classroom is virtual, and the design frameworks that support it.
• Instructional technology integration — choosing learning management systems, multimedia, and collaborative tools that serve a clear learning purpose rather than being tech for its own sake.
• Standards-aligned lesson planning — building a direct-instruction lesson plan intended for an online classroom setting.
• Digital citizenship and digital literacy — teaching students to use technology safely, ethically, and responsibly.
• Assessment, feedback, and accessibility — designing formative checks and applying universal-design principles so all learners can participate.
• Recorded delivery and reflection — presenting your instruction on video (WGU commonly uses GoReact for this) and evaluating your own practice.

How Hard It Is and How Long to Plan For

Because there is no exam to memorize, many students report that D660 feels more practical and manageable than heavy content courses — the challenge is precision and follow-through, not recall. The two things that most often slow people down are matching the rubric wording exactly and getting comfortable recording themselves. If lesson planning is already familiar to you, several students describe finishing in one to two focused weeks; if planning or the video component is new, give yourself more runway and do not rush the recording.

Treat the timeline as effort-based rather than fixed. WGU is competency-based, so you can move as quickly as your evaluator-ready work allows. Plan your calendar around drafting, getting one round of feedback, revising, and then recording with room to re-shoot if a requirement is missed.

A Study and Preparation Plan Built for a Task Course

Traditional cram tactics do not fit a performance assessment, so adapt your effort to what D660 actually grades:

• Read the rubric first, then reverse-engineer it. Open each task's rubric before you write a word. Copy every "aspect" into a checklist and treat each one as a required section. Evaluators score against that language, so mirror it.
• Use the course-provided templates. WGU supplies lesson-plan structures and task directions. Building on the official template keeps you from omitting a required element and speeds up drafting.
• Practice-test your own draft. After writing, put the draft away for a day, then reread it holding only the rubric. Ask of each requirement, "Where exactly did I address this?" If you cannot point to a sentence, it is not there yet.
• Space the video work. Do a rough practice recording early — before your plan is even final — just to get used to the tool and your own voice. Save the graded take for after your lesson plan passes review.
• Lean on your course instructor. A short call to confirm you have interpreted a rubric point correctly can save a full revision cycle.

If you want to sharpen the underlying skills, courses like D630 Designing Curriculum and Instruction I and D184 Standards-Based Assessment pair naturally with the planning work here, and D293 Assessment and Learning Analytics deepens the data-and-feedback side of online teaching.

Mistakes That Cost Students a Revision

The most common setbacks in D660 are avoidable once you know where evaluators focus:

• Writing a generic lesson plan. A plan that could run in any classroom will be sent back. Your instruction must be built for an online setting, with the technology and interaction that setting requires.
• Paraphrasing the rubric instead of meeting it. Restating what a requirement asks is not the same as demonstrating it. Show the specific strategy, tool, or standard the rubric names.
• Video slip-ups. Recording with an audience present, skipping a rubric-required element, or muddy audio are frequent re-shoot reasons. Keep the rubric on screen while you record.
• Weak standards alignment. Naming a standard is not enough; your objectives, activities, and assessment should visibly connect to it.
• Under-treating digital citizenship. When a task centers on responsible technology use, make that the genuine focus of the lesson rather than an afterthought.
• Borrowing from shared "task" documents. Files labeled as completed D660 tasks circulate online. Submitting or closely copying them risks an academic-integrity violation and teaches you nothing you can defend on video. Do your own work — it is the only path that holds up.

D660 Readiness Checklist

Before you submit, confirm you can honestly answer yes to each of these:

• Can you point to the exact sentence in your submission that satisfies every aspect of the rubric?
• Can you explain why your lesson is designed for an online — not a face-to-face — classroom?
• Can you justify each piece of technology you chose by the learning purpose it serves?
• Can you trace your objectives, activities, and assessment back to a specific standard?
• Can you describe how students with different needs will access and participate in the lesson?
• Can you deliver your instruction on video hitting every rubric requirement without an audience present?
• Can you confirm your audio is clear and your recording tool is set up correctly?
• Can you reflect honestly on what worked and what you would change about your teaching?
• Can you affirm the work is entirely your own, with any sources properly cited?

D660 FAQ

Is D660 an objective assessment or a performance assessment?

D660 is assessed through performance tasks, not a proctored objective exam. You submit teaching artifacts such as an online lesson plan and a recorded demonstration of your instruction.

Is D660 hard?

Many students report it is more practical than difficult because there is nothing to memorize. The real work is matching the rubric precisely and getting comfortable recording yourself teaching.

How long does D660 usually take?

It varies by your background. Students who are already fluent in lesson planning often report finishing in one to two focused weeks, while those new to online planning or video should budget more time for drafts, feedback, and re-recording.

Do I really have to record a video?

Yes — a recorded demonstration of your instruction is part of the assessment, and WGU commonly uses GoReact for it. Keep the rubric visible while recording so you cover every required element in one clean take.

What topics should I focus on most?

Concentrate on designing standards-aligned instruction for an online classroom, integrating technology with a clear purpose, addressing digital citizenship, and planning for accessibility. Those themes run through the tasks.

Where can I find trustworthy course details?

Your official WGU course page and course instructor are the authoritative sources for current task directions and rubrics. For the program context, WGU publishes its teaching degree program pages. You can also browse related School of Education guides or the full index of WGU course guides on this site.