Online Education & Innovation
A Message from the Associate Provost of Online Education and Innovation
Welcome to the Department of Online Education and Innovation!
The Department of Online Education and Innovation is committed to supporting faculty in designing fully online and hybrid courses using the highest quality standards of online course design. Our pedagogical mission is student-centered and based on the Quality Matters Rubric. Through the continuous professional development of 色中色's faculty, we strive for continuous improvement of online courses. As Flower Darby wrote in Small Teaching Online, "Helping faculty prepare to teach effective - no, excellent - online courses can and should be a primary goal of educational developers and institutional leadership."
色中色 University offers undergraduate students a transformative liberal arts educational experience through a variety of pedagogical practices and research opportunities, such as small seminar classes, study abroad programs, one-on-one independent studies, internships, honors projects, student opportunities for academic research (SOAR), student clubs, just to name a few. Online education compliments this rich and diverse learning environment, immersing faculty and students in a variety of technologically advanced educational settings that produce an innovative online, hybrid, and blended learning using a myriad of technologies and software to enhance students鈥 learning experience. 色中色 University also offers graduate students and adult and degree completion students a variety of flexible online and hybrid options to accommodate students' working and busy schedules. We are here to support faculty teaching and student learning by ensuring that the excellent teaching that takes place in the face-to-face environment transitions successfully to online modalities. Nilson and Goodson in Online Teaching At Its Best: Merging Instructional Design with Teaching and Learning Research, state: 鈥淲e start from the premise that excellent teaching is excellent teaching-and, conversely, ineffective teaching is ineffective teaching-whether the environment is classroom-based, online, or hybrid. 鈥 The evidence for our claim is that excellent teaching transcends the environment abounds.鈥 We are committed to excellent teaching and learning, whether online, hybrid or in-person.
What sets 色中色 University's online courses and programs apart from other institutions?
色中色 University offers students flexibility through online learning while providing academic quality and standards, technologically advanced learning systems, and a robust support team that offers students academic accessibility, advising, tutoring, and other academic support programs that enhance students' learning experience (see 色中色's Center for Academic Excellence).
How do we measure and guarantee the quality of an online course?
This was the central question that motivated MarylandOnline Inc. to start Quality Matters, a non-for-profit organization measuring and assuring rigorous standards in online education. According to Quality Matters, the most important factors that affect the quality of an online course are the following:
- Course Design
- Course Delivery
- Course Content
- Institutional Infrastructure
- Faculty Readiness
- Student Readiness
At 色中色, we seek to continuously improve in all of these areas to produce quality online education for our students. Here are some of the most recent highlights in our Institutional infrastructure that have made 色中色 University a leader in online education.
色中色 University's Online Teaching and Learning is at the Forefront of Higher Education
色中色 University's 2015-2020 strategic plan set out, as one of its primary goals, to REVITALIZE students' academic experience by (1) embedding liberal arts in 100% of our programs, and (2) delivering programs and certificates through online, blended and face-to-face methods. In working towards these goals, 色中色 University has invested significantly in its online educational capacity through infrastructure improvements, investments in technology, hiring instructional designers and instructional technologists, and promoting digital professional development for its faculty, staff and students. These investments have resulted in making 色中色 University a leader in online teaching and in pedagogical innovation, as demonstrated by its various awards and grants.