The recipients of OLC’s 2015 Effective Practice Awards to date are:

  • Melanie Shaw and Witt Salley, Clemson for “CONCERT, ENCORE(S), and BACKSTAGE: The Fine Art of Assuring Quality in Online Education”
  • Wendy Cowan and Mark Gale, Athens State University for “Creating a Hands-On Technology experience for the Online Student and Practitioner”
  • Jacob Bates and Karen Tinsley-Kim, University of Central Florida for “Effectively Improving Online Accessibility with UDOIT (Universal Design Online content Inspection Tool)”
  • Connie Johnson, Tonya Troka and Judith Komar, Colorado Technical University for “Improving Performance in College Algebra Using Technology”
  • Omar S. Lopez, Texas State University for “The Online Graduate Research Forum: An Effective Practice for Extending Students’ Discourse to Global Audiences”
  • Alexandra M. Pickett, Open SUNY Center for Online Teaching Excellence on behalf of Open SUNY Center for Online Teaching Excellence, for “The Open SUNY COTE Quality Review (OSCQR) Process and Rubric”
  • Amy LimBybliw and Jerri Kjolhaug, on behalf of the Rothenberger Institute, University of Minnesota Twin Cities for “Training Teaching Assistants as Peer Educators Using an Online Peer Course Facilitator Training”
  • Todd Karr and Wesley Juranek, University of Nebraska for “University of Nebraska State Authorization Dashboard”
  • Crystal Sands, Darren Walsh and Michelle Abeyta, Excelsior College for “The Excelsior College OWL: Bringing Writing Instruction to Life”

These awards were presented at the 21st Annual Online Learning Consortium International Conference, October 14-16, 2015 in Orlando, FL. 

  • David Miller and Larisa Olesova, George Mason University for “Designing and Implementing Experiential Learning though Multimedia-Based Activities and Blogging”
  • Sandra Connelly, Rochester Institute of Technology for “Implementing Full Access Videos to Engage All Students in a Large General Education Biology Course”
  • Michelle Miller, John Doherty and J. Richard McDonald, Northern Arizona University, Rhizome Learn LLC for “Attention Matters! A Freestanding Module for Teaching About Attention and Multitasking”
  • Brian Renshaw and Ryan Baltrip, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for “Using Tablet Video Technology to Enhance Language Learning”
  • Laurel Vaughan Newman, Emily A. Boles and Carrie L. Levin, University of Illinois Springfield for “Community of Practice for E-Learning”
  • Nancy LaChance, Karen Evans, Zoaib Mirza and Stephen Grigalunas, DeVry Education Group for “Sidebar: Enhancing faculty satisfaction through an integrated online faculty community”
  • Amy Skyles and Angie Hammons, Missouri University of Science and Technology for “Delivering Experiential Labs to All”

These awards were presented at the 8th Annual Emerging Technologies for Online Learning International Symposium (ET4Online), jointly presented by OLC and MERLOT, April 22-24, in Dallas.

The winning practices were selected for recognition based on their ability to provide evidence of innovation and replicability. The OLC Effective Practice Awards selection committee members are:

  • Dr. Bucky Dodd, Executive Director of eLearning and Innovations, University of Central Oklahoma
  • Jaya Kannan, Director, Office of Digital Learning, Sacred Heart University
  • Dr. Angela M. Gibson Professor, Core Learning and the School of Arts & Humanities, American Public University System
  • Dr. Laurie G. Hillstock, Senior Customer Success Advocate,  Blackboard, Inc.
  • Melanie Shaw, Director of Research and Strategic Advancement, Clemson University
  • Renee Aitken AVP for Educational Effectiveness & Institutional Accreditation, Wright State University
  • Witt Salley, Executive Director of Clemson Online, Clemson University

See previous years’ winners. 

Check back for additional winners to be announced soon and presented at the 21st Annual Online Learning Consortium International Conference, taking place October 14-16, 2015 in Orlando.