Non-traditional learners have found that online education provides a convenient way to fit education into their busy lives. All they need to participate is a computer with Internet access, and the motivation to succeed.
According to our infographic, Today’s Students Are Driving The Online Learning Landscape, digital learning is becoming mainstream. In fact, over 5.8 million students enroll. Both students and institutions will propel its continued rate of adoption, although there will be challenges:
- 77% of institutions offering online learning say it’s crucial to their long-term strategy.
- However, 85% of faculty claim to have little experience with digital learning materials.
- That’s troubling when you consider that by the Fall of 2018, nearly 48% of materials will be digital.
The Need for Professional Development
When online education was in its infancy, instructors developed much of their own online course content. Fast forward to today, and you’ll find many industries have emerged to fill this need. Open Educational Resources (OER), Learning Management Systems (LMSs), quality benchmarking tools and best practices in instructional design allow faculty to develop and facilitate courses within flexible frameworks that include collaboration tools, adaptive learning courseware, and interactive media that didn’t exist a decade ago.
Still, this pedagogical shift away from instructor-centered teaching to a more learner-centered collaborative approach has created its own set of challenges: How do educators, course designers, and administrators find (and afford) training to improve their skills in a field that is constantly evolving?
Workshops from the OLC Institute for Professional Development
OLC workshops enable colleagues worldwide to cost-effectively collaborate with peers and experts via synchronous and asynchronous methods for active and engaging learning. Modeling best practices, our workshops utilize numerous proven instructional strategies and learning activities that will spark creative ideas for your teaching environment.
We hold more than a hundred workshops throughout the year and often repeat offerings multiple times so that you can easily fit a desired course into your busy schedule. You’ll find our workshops cover key topics like the essentials of online teaching, blended teaching & learning, social media, mobile learning, online presentation tools, accessibility, copyright compliance, and so much more.
New courses include Strategic Planning for Web Accessibility, An Introduction to LX Design, and Strategies for Effective Mobile Learning in the Online and Blended Classroom. There are almost too many to choose from.
That’s Why We Developed the Workshop Pass
The OLC Workshop Pass includes ten seats for any OLC online workshops for a full year. Many institutions use the workshops as a cost-effective and convenient way to improve quality in online education while offering a great way for university faculty and staff to network with new colleagues.
Best of all, our Workshop Pass offers amazing savings. When you order, you’re locking in ten workshop registrations at just $115 a seat! That’s a $155 savings off of our regular workshop price of workshops $270/seat.
The Workshop Pass is flexible; you can use all ten passes for yourself throughout the year, or you can gift any of the ten as a motivational reward. And you can transfer seats to any individual, not only to faculty and administrators. Use them for team training, inviting colleagues or faculty to all attend a specific workshop (or two) as a team, so that you elevate everyone’s knowledge in a particular topic. The Workshop Pass is valid for a full year, so you can lock in now and decide which workshops to take later.
Peer Reviews of the Workshop Pass
The University of Houston-Downtown uses the OLC Workshop Pass to cost-effectively enroll over 130 faculty in OLC’s Institute for Professional Development:
“Given that OLC offers something for everyone, from the novice to the advanced online instructor, using Workshop Passes allows us to manage registrations, track completions, address various, unique faculty needs, and even showcase the accomplishments of the Center and the faculty we serve. That makes my job as faculty developer much easier.” — Georges Detiveaux, Assistant Director, Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, UHD. Read Georges’ story.
Alvin Community College is a small institution with limited resources, so in addition to quality, it must considers overall value. Purchasing a package of OLC Workshops with the Workshop Pass makes the professional development process simple and highly affordable.
“It is impossible to provide all of our training and professional development in house. Having the OLC Workshop Pass expanded the opportunities I was able to provide to the faculty.” — Dena Coots, Director Distance Education & Instructional Design, Alvin Community College.
Improve Professional Faculty Development at Your Institution
In order to develop and maintain an effective and engaging online learning environment, online instructors must possess a unique set of skills and knowledge tools that reflect the trends and technologies of our ever-evolving field. Consider the OLC Workshop Pass to be the answer your institution needs to keeping faculty and staff at the top of their online teaching game.