OLC Awarded Grant from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to Support Minority-Serving Institutions in Pivot to Online Learning

If FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The grant will enable OLC to provide affordable, short-term workshops on key topics, to faculty and staff of MSIs, as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. BOSTON, Mass. (May 13, 2020) — The Online Learning Consortium (OLC), the leading professional organization devoted to advancing the quality of digital... Read More>

Lowered Expectations, Dropped Assignments Dominated Switch to Online Courses

Campus Technology | May 5, 2020 -  Faculty and administrators weigh in on what assistance would be most helpful for online instruction. Source: "Digital Learning Pulse Survey: Immediate Priorities," from Cengage Nearly half of faculty (48 percent) in a recent survey said they lowered their expectations about the amount of work they could... Read More>

Are Colleges Ready for a Different Kind of Teaching This Fall?

The Chronicle of Higher Education | May 5, 2020 - This spring the University of South Florida, a sprawling campus on the outskirts of Tampa, undertook the seemingly impossible. It shifted 5,000 courses online in a matter of days, emptied residence halls of more than 6,000 undergraduates, and did its best... Read More>

OLC Innovate™ 2020 Conference Moves to June with All-Virtual Format

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Produced by the Online Learning Consortium, in partnership with MERLOT, OLC Innovate 2020 Virtual will gather digital learning leaders and practitioners, online, June 15-26, to focus on innovation in digital, blended and online learning. BOSTON, Mass. (May 1, 2020) — The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) announced today that its annual... Read More>

What is your Academic Business Continuity Plan?

Education Technology | April 22, 2020 - How IT principles of disaster recovery and business continuity planning provide a powerful model for higher education Continuity technology without compromise I’ve been very fortunate to work with inspiring thought-leaders across various industries within the enterprise software space, supporting incredibly knowledgeable customers with demanding requirements. Each... Read More>

Survey: Emergency Move Online Forced More than Half of Faculty to Learn New Teaching Methods

Campus Technology | April 22, 2020 - In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all higher education institutions (90 percent) in a recent survey used some form of emergency distance education to complete the Spring 2020 term. And 56 percent of faculty who moved courses online were using teaching methods... Read More>

How Teaching Changed in the (Forced) Shift to Remote Learning

Inside Higher Ed | April 22, 2020 - New survey documents how professors view this spring's mass move to virtual courses. Key findings: most used new teaching methods, half lowered their expectations for the volume of student work -- and a third for its quality. It will be some time before we know... Read More>

Digital Learning Pulse Survey: 90% of U.S. Higher Ed Institutions Used Emergency Distance Education to Complete Spring 2020 Term

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The survey of higher education’s immediate priorities related to the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted April 6-19 by Bay View Analytics on behalf of OLC, WCET, UPCEA, CDLRA and Every Learner Everywhere, and underwritten by Cengage; findings will be discussed in a webinar, this Friday, April 24. BOSTON, Mass. (April... Read More>

Teachers need lots of training to do online learning well. Coronavirus closures gave many just days.

The Hechinger Report | April 17, 2020 - Many schools rush to move instruction online — not the ideal way to launch a new learning platform — leaving teachers to forge ahead on the fly After the Arizona State University Preparatory Academy announced on Friday, March 13, that it would shift its... Read More>

The Online Learning Consortium Names Dr. Jennifer Mathes CEO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dr. Mathes assumes this leadership role after serving as interim CEO since last May, and at a time when OLC is focused on leading its community through a pivotal moment in digital learning’s evolution. BOSTON, Mass. (April 7, 2020) — The Board of Directors of the Online Learning Consortium... Read More>