Interesting article with a pretty good "checklist" for online teachers (the better list is in Appendix A). http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no2/goldman_0611.pdf
Any online school worth its salt has some sort of department with more resources than you could ever want or use. The problem is not best practices, its pay and time. If you are only getting $2K a class, you are going to get it done expediently and professionally but not lavish 40 hours a week on it.