Incorporating a variety of frequent assessments in your course is essential to understanding if your students are learning effectively online. Don't rely on only summative assessments or formative assessments to surface learning, but rather develop multiple check-ins where students are able to understand and improve their own learning as well as display understanding of major concepts in the curruculum. Empower your students to recognize their own learning on their own time through assessments you incorporate into the curriculum.
Online resources offer many opportunities to create interactive, authentic assessments that engage learners in the continuation of their course’s learning journey rather than presenting the assignment(s) as barriers or hoops to moving forward in the course or completing the course.