The Secret to Effective Online Learning? Investing in the People Who Teach It
In online education and training, professionals rightfully prioritize learners—but too often, they lack meaningful opportunities for their own professional development. Throughout my work with various organizations, I have seen training efforts focus primarily on mastering new technologies or attending “train-the-trainer” programs that equip educators with specific content or skills to pass on to others. While […]
Supporting Students and Faculty: Using the MERLOT Library to Support Teaching, Learning, and Open Education
One thing that is constant in education, society, technology, and all facets of life is change. Keeping up with the sheer number of technological tools, newly published articles and textbooks, apps, and other instructional developments can be an overwhelming task, even for the most up-to-date faculty member, instructional designer, librarian, and others. We are excited […]
Teaching Accessibly and Teaching Accessibility: The Key to Equitable Education
Think about the last time you came across the term “accessibility”. What was the context? Maybe it was a discussion about legal requirements or technology procurement. Or perhaps it came up while talking about designing quality online courses. No matter where you’ve encountered the term, you probably recognize that accessibility is important in education. But […]
Embracing Emergence: Leadership in a Complex World
A partner institution recently requested student enrollment assistance via our consortium agreement. Our team recognized this as a simple scenario where we have specific guidelines to support learners. Therefore, they assessed the request, categorized it, and responded to it following the typical process we have in place (known knowns). During the same week, the team […]
What Do Students Think about AI?
I have four children. Two of them are twins. The twins are six-years-old, which means that they occasionally produce imaginative turns-of-phrase that are cute and humorous. For example, my daughter recently noted that it was “raining snow,” and her brother called the electrical socket a “wall battery.” I could go on and on. Instead, I’ll […]