In 2008 the University of Toledo (Ohio) approved a new course listed course in Climate Change to be offerred by the Department of Geography & Planning and Department of Environmental Science. GEPL/EEES 2200 is intended as an introductory course on climate change that will have an open enrollment (any undergraduate student from any program can take the course), without required prerequisites, and will have an initial enrollment cap of 40 students. The course will be first offered during the Spring 2009 academic term. The course will cover a full range of scientific and policy issues regarding climate change including: atmospheric processes, carbon cycling, historical global temperatures, evidence for climate change, global impacts, and mitigation strategies. A key component of the course development and offering will be the use of a range of innovative online learning tools and methods with the course created in a Distance Learning format. An online learning community will be established within the WebCT course website to allow for an interactive forum for student participation. This presentation will highlight the critical decisions made during the course development and showcase the various online materials, grading, and assessment elements built into the course.