Leading Large-Scale Blended Learning Initiatives

Abstract

Blended learning is a powerful approach to enhance student learning outcomes and engagement, but it also poses significant challenges for educational leaders who need to plan, implement, and sustain large scale blended learning initiatives. In this session, you will hear from a panel of experienced blended learning leaders who will share their insights and strategies on how to lead blended learning effectively in different institutional contexts. You will learn about the key decisions, challenges, wins, and lessons learned from their blended learning journeys, and how they maintained momentum and stakeholder support along the way.

Speakers: Tawnya Means, Ph.D., Gies College of Business – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Moderator), Sandra Luxton, Ph.D., Swinburne University of Technology, Michael Torrence, Ph.D., Motlow State University

Dr. Tawnya Means is the Assistant Dean for Educational Innovation and Chief Learning Officer in the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Prior to this role, Tawnya served as the Assistant Dean and Director of the Teaching and Learning Center for the College of Business at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Director of the Teaching and Learning Center at the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida, leading teaching and learning support and providing faculty development programs and resources for instructional innovation and adoption of pedagogical best practices. With 20 years of experience in higher education, course design, and educational consulting, Tawnya has also taught courses in entrepreneurship, strategy, technology, and leadership in remote teams. Dr. Means received her B.S. in Education, M.S. in Educational Technology, and Ph.D. in Information Science and Learning Technologies with an emphasis on learning systems design, all from the University of Missouri. She completed the AACSB Post-doctoral bridge program in Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of Florida. Her research interests are in online and blended learning, active learning, learning space design, technology for teaching, access to digital learning resources, and faculty preparation to teach. She has long been a leader in campus initiatives and committees and actively presents at conferences and other institutions and organizations on technology-enhanced learning.

Sandra Luxton has over 20 years’ experience as an academic at Monash University, University of South Australia and QUT. She has held many leadership roles including Director of the Master of Marketing (online), Director of Industry Based Learning, Director of Study Tour Programs, and Manager – Undergraduate Open Learning. Sandra is widely published in journals including European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Australasian Marketing Journal, International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, Journal of Food Product Marketing, Higher Education in Europe, and Australian and New Zealand Journal of Vocational Education Research. Sandra worked at BP Australia for 10 years prior to academia, and has also worked as a research consultant in Adelaide and Melbourne.

Dr. Michael Torrence serves as the president of Motlow State Community College. The college has campuses in Smyrna, Tullahoma, McMinnville and Fayetteville, Tennessee. Dr. Torrence has 11 years of experience in higher education administration and nearly 23 years of full- and part-time teaching experience. He has spent his career embracing the use of technological literacy as a platform to increase student engagement and success. He has served as the Co-Chairperson for TNeCampus and as a Tennessee Board of Regents statewide team leader for the integration of Emerging Technology and Mobilization in the areas of Gaming, VR, AR, and MR into teaching and learning. Dr. Torrence has trained faculty, students, executives, and community members and developed immersive curriculum focused on STEAMB (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art/Aviation, Mathematics, and Business) for all grade levels and has utilized these platforms for teaching undergraduate and graduate students in his own classes, where VR and entrepreneurship is a norm. Currently, he is researching and developing a platform for OER with support from Hewlett-Packard and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He earned a doctor of philosophy degree, with a major in exceptional learning, at Tennessee Tech University, and master of arts and bachelor of arts degrees at South Dakota State University, both with a major in English. Michael is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, serving as a senior airman from 1992 to 1996.