With the development of instructional design literature and the potential of online courses to support learning, there exists a gap between theoretical knowledge (theory) and practice (reality). The objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the design of online courses for teaching and learning, and what designers and instructors in online learning environments should collectively consider in terms of the quality of the design for online courses. A quantitative design methodology was used to measure the validity and reliability of a rubric used as an evaluation tool in three online short courses at a university level. Scores were measured and analysed using simple descriptive statistics, and qualitative aspects of the online course analysis were integrated to ascertain a summative conclusion of the three online courses and whether the rubric, as a design framework, needed further improvement or not. The rubric offered a framework to determine what components contribute towards quality design in online courses.