2018 East Regional Conference

Keynote: Perspectives on Scaling Quality in Online Learning: MOOCs and Microdegrees, "Traditional" Online Courses, and Personalized Learning

Creating an online course is an art and the best faculty finely craft their courses for the greatest impact. With quality at the heart of that process, how does scale change design and delivery? Must engagement and innovation suffer in a course developed for several thousand learners or a proto/template course used by multiple sections? Does scale stifle the creative process or ultimately impact student success? Perspectives will be shared on scaling quality and approaches to program design, delivery, and pedagogy.

Designing Leaders for QA

For leaders in online education, the word "design" has a new resonance.  It reflects the prominent role of instructional design in the structuring of the student learning experience.  It also signifies the responsibility of leaders to plan, implement, measure, and analyze.  To prepare new leaders, MarylandOnline (MOL) launched a Leadership Institute (MOLLI).  MOLLI's Director and planning council members will share lessons learned in MOLLI 2017 and plans for MOLLI 2018.

Tools for Infusing QM Standards into the Course Design Process

Between 2015 and 2017, UMB's Graduate School added 50 new online courses to its curriculum. This was accomplished with a very small support team (two IDs and a media specialist.) To meet our goal of having each course meet the essential QM Standards from the first delivery, the team created a system to build QM compliance into the course development process. By using a combination of templates and course design worksheets, we are able to coach our faculty through the basics of course alignment and learner engagement without lengthy faculty training workshops.

The ID-Faculty Partnerships: A Participatory Approach to Addressing Curricular Metrics of Quality at the “Macro” Level Using UDL

With the exponential growth of online programs, there is an added challenge of balancing reach with quality, at scale. Managing quality, at scale, compels a combination of “micro” (classroom) and “macro” (curricular) level efforts, that are grounded in institutional values, professional standards, and universal design for learning principles. Social work concepts can inform instructional design strategies; facilitating movement beyond traditional objectivist and behaviorist orientations.

Online Course Design, Quality Matters Training, and Student Outcomes

A STEM faculty learning community was created at North Carolina Central University to assess online science course offerings and instruction. Faculty completed the APPQMR course coupled with services from the Division of Extended Studies and implemented changes in their subsequent online courses. This presentation describes the impact of that training and application of Rubric Standards on the design and student outcomes for an Introductory Biology course over four terms, as published in the QM-focused 2017 edition of the American Journal of Distance Education.

NCCU Has an App for That! RE-Applying the Quality Matters Rubric Through Gamification

Built as an extension of the APPQMR, North Carolina Central University developed "You be the Reviewer: Quality Matters at NCCU" in response to an institutional need for continuous review of the Rubric Standards. This revolutionary, new text-based mobile game reinforces participants' understanding of best practices presented during the APPQMR. Join us during this highly engaging session which explores lessons learned in the development and implementation of our innovative mobile application, and extend the excitement sparked by the APPQMR throughout the course design process!

Crafting Online Course Standards while Maintaining Academic Freedom

How can institutions leverage technology to incorporate instructional design principles in every course with limited resources? One solution: templates. By now, templates are very commonplace but are often misunderstood. Course templates offer a unique, flexible, and sustainable way to ensure quality while keeping options open. Smaller institutions with limited staff can leverage an online course template to provide a baseline standard and teachable moment. Let's remove the anxiety of a blank course shell and take a deep dive into building templates in Canvas using Design Tools.