This development design research dissertation used Richey and Klein's (1996) Type 2 model to create guidelines that inform instructional designers when designing authentic tasks in the online environment. Herrington and Oliver (2000) state that designing authentic tasks for online learning can be captured using nine characteristics. Bonk and Dennen's (2003) research empirically demonstrated a Framework for Online Instruction. Combining these two research frameworks, guidelines to inform the decisions to of instructional designers when for authentic in the online environment are designed, developed, and validated with expert reviewers in authentic learning. / Ed. D.