I need to understand the students' backgrounds to determine if they are experienced with online learn, if the are adult learners, and it they have come straight from traditional learning.  In that way, I can proactively address the 7 core competencies to ensure effective learning.

The foundation of building a collaborative, supportive online learning experience is establishing rapport, trust, and agreement on goals and action plans.  It requires the instructor to establish a point of contact, proactive, ongoing communication, and being responsive to questions and comments.

I learned how to evaluate a rubric and can use this for existing rubrics I have to learn how to improve them.

There are actually successive steps to take when building a rubric. I will incorporate this into my course-building.

It may be difficult to determine if, as an instructor, you are more interested in the final product or in the process of getting there.  The rubric must align with the outcomes you wish to achieve.

Students are likely to perform better with less anxiety if they clearly understand the grading expectations. An effective rubric does this; however, it takes a thoughtful analysis of the criteria to ensure that it is appropriate for the assignment to create a meaningful rubric. If not, the rubric become subjective and can cause more frustration for the student and the instructor.