Schedule

Institutions typically think about outside of region/national online opportunities as being one big homogenous market. Instead, the case is made for considering the notion of strategizing and acting in a locally aligned fashion where “place matters, ” a concept deeply aligned with professional and continuing education units’ missions and purposes. Presenters share how tailored and regionally-customized strategies help enable deeper understanding of regional markets, employer needs and labor market trends, as well as compliancy needs of state-level regulations, how to strategically source faculty and recruit students in diverse locations, and to build community among students in various settings.

Peter Smith
Kaplan University

Sondra Stallard
Strayer University

Marie Cini
University of Maryland

Moderator:
Kai Drekmeier
InsideTrack

Expanding an institution’s portfolio of online courses requires well-defined and repeatable processes for training new instructors and managing course development. This is especially important when staff resources for providing assistance are at a premium and the institution relies on instructors to be as self-sufficient as possible. Instructor training can be divided into two major components: 1) technical training on how to use the institution’s learning management system and other instructional tools, and 2) pedagogical training on how to use those tools effectively. Managing the development process also involves two components: 1) guiding instructors as they assemble content and instructional activities to create online courses and 2) working with academic program planners as they develop and introduce new courses. In 2008, University of California, Irvine Extension (UNEX) began rapidly increasing the number of online courses it offers as well as recruiting new online instructors to teach those courses. On average, UNEX added 15 new instructors and/or courses each academic quarter between 2008 and 2012, with the trend expected to continue into the future. In today’s session we’ll explore effective practices for training and guiding new instructors, and for ensuring that those instructors remain “on target” to have their content ready in time for the start of their courses. We’ll use examples from UNEX to illustrate the concepts.

State Authorization Dynamics: Updates and Solutions Following the 2012 Election 

Two of the leading national experts on state authorization regulations will present an update on state fees and regulations, including strategies to minimize costs while enabling maximum state coverage for online programs. Updates will include status reports on current requirements, options for reciprocity (SARA) and what the 2012 elections mean. Financial models for dealing with the cost of compliance as well as best practices in terms of ramping up in response will be shared.

The Emerging Open Online Learning Environment

This is the year that open online learning comes of age. With a wide range of open learning start-ups from MIT and Harvard forming edX; Coursera bringing together Princeton, Stanford, Michigan and UPenn; Udacity led by Google's Sebastian Thrun; Open Yale, and a host of other initiatives, the geography of higher education is forever changed. Online badges and certificates abound. What does this mean for our distance learning initiatives? How do we remain competitive in this environment?

Navigating the Open Road of MOOCs and Badges 

Higher education has largely ignored free education, despite its disruptive influence, regarding it as an unattainable, utopian idea of little threat to the current structure of education. However, evidence continues to emerge that supports the growing power of free education and its ability to upset this complacent view. The implications of open education are so profound that we’re now experiencing a shift in the way higher education is consumed, considered, and positioned in society. There are a bewildering array of threats and opportunities in free education. The advent of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), first introduced by Stanford professors, was quickly followed by MIT, Harvard, and others like Udacity and Coursera. MOOCs have captured the attention of higher education, as well as individual faculty members who are free to, as individuals, get involved in these efforts. To respond to the demand for less expensive degree education, major public universities are leveraging open education to create MOOCs and low cost degrees. Deans and Directors are being pushed to develop the open content and technology to large numbers of students. This presentation will review the current status of the major players in open education, providing an assessment of the options available to institutions. It will then offer strategies for entry or continued involvement in open education. Lastly, it will describe the "experimental” model and propose a UPCEA continuous study of developments in the field.

A Scalable Online Course Development Model

Northeastern University Online supports over 3500 course sections annually with a limited number of instructional designers. We put more than 65 degree and certificate offerings online since 2004. They range from Associates to Doctoral degrees through partnerships with a number of colleges within the university. Our instructors range from part time adjunct faculty to tenured full time faculty. In response to such overwhelming growth, we developed a highly scalable and systematic approach to the design and delivery of online courses referred to as EASEE (economical, accessible, sustainable, efficient, effective) model. This approach lets you identify/monitor/maintain large-scale course design and delivery based on best practices and quality standards for all our online courses fast and efficiently. It is aligned with best practices for online design and delivery based on the current research. This evidence-based approach includes comprehensive training and mentorship of faculty, scheduled course readiness checks and in-depth quality reporting based on rubrics, regular reporting to academic oversight, speedy mediation of problem courses and issues, and formative and summative student surveys, six times per course and occurs eight times per year. This process for developing online education has established a college-wide culture of readiness and quality for the design and delivery of online courses unparalleled in higher education. In essence, this is a multipoint quality assurance program supported by a framework of easy-to-use technology that can serve as a blueprint for other institutions’ seeking to improve quality in online programs.

Flexible E-learning Programs for a Global Workforce

Arizona State University Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and Intel Vietnam have developed a graduate program to meet the diverse needs of the employees within the lntel workplace. Through a number of innovative delivery methods, ASU is able to produce a true graduate student experience while overcoming the geographical constraints. In order to support continuing education through distance learning, we must be innovative in the ways of educating and communicating with our professional students. To meet the needs of the Intel workforce Fulton Schools of Engineering have implemented a variety of delivery and learning tools including the use of videoconferencing, on-demand availability of lectures, group-based projects along with onsite orientation and advising visits. We will discuss this partnership, along with the implementation, online delivery methods, and ways to sustain successful corporate partnerships for effective workforce development. For over twenty years Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering’s office of Global Outreach and Extended Education (GOEE) has offered non-credit short courses, customized programs, online graduate degrees and certificate programs. Ranked #2 by the U.S. News & World Report for Student Services and Technology for online engineering programs, ASU Engineering improves the professional student experience.

Henry Leitner
Harvard University

Catalina Laserna
Harvard University

Moderator:
Ken Nanni
University of Florida

Innovating at the Periphery to Extend Harvard's Core

Over the past decade, the Harvard Extension School (HES) has begun to transform itself from a peripheral role as an “evening school” for local area adults to a fertile academic environment available 24/7 to a growing population of enthusiastic students around the world. Our distance education activities are faculty-driven and function as a laboratory in which creative ideas can be pursued, successes can be disseminated, and instructive failure can occur with moderately low risk. HES first began offering Harvard College (HC) courses online as a single course experiment in the Fall, 2000 with Prof. H.T. Kung’s CS-143: Network Programming, and has expanded considerably since then. More than 100 different HC and Harvard Graduate School of Education courses have been offered online to date. Our session will address the questions: In what ways have HC courses in various academic disciplines been adapted for online learners? How have these adaptations affected HES and HC students? What is the experience of HC faculty members and teaching assistants? What tools, techniques and specialized skills do they use to facilitate innovative learning experiences that include online students? Given advances in technology for learning and teaching, current research, emerging standards, and trends in the education marketplace, what priorities and perspectives guide the expansion and continuous improvement of the HES-HC initiative? In what ways can the HES experience offering HC courses online contribute to understanding the University’s future role in distance education through EdX and help advance a research agenda in the field of online and lifelong learning?

Wendy Drexler
Brown University

Mary Neimiec
University of Nebraska
Online Worldwide

Choosing a Pathway for Bringing Online Programs to Scale: Using External Partnerships or Building on Internal Capacity

The world of online learning continues to grow at a healthy rate, outpacing the growth of higher education on campus. Aside from several elite private institutions, nearly all higher education institutions offer online courses and most offer some online degrees. In a world that is highly competitive, Universities that are looking to distinguish themselves in this market do so in various ways, some by creating niche programs and others by looking to bring their online programs to a large scale. This session explores two different pathways to building to scale: using the resources of an outside partner or building upon internal institutional infrastructure and resources.

Patricia Clary
Brandman University

Craig Lamb
SUNY Empire State College

Kelly Mollica
SUNY Empire State College

Moderator:
Rick Shearer
Pennsylvania State University

High Tech & High Touch Recruitment: Using E-Marketing Strategies in Piloting and Sustaining Programs

Online learning is one of the fastest growing segments in the higher education marketplace. In this new educational modality, understanding your market, how to reach them and then, effectively market through the right medium contributes to the overall success and sustainability of any program. How do you distinguish your programs from all the rest? How do you present your competitive advantage so that prospective students notice? How do you nurture your leads through to application and enrollment? Technology provides some great tools for managing your process, but it takes more than technology. We are all in the business of helping people achieve their dreams – and that requires “high touch” in addition to “high tech”.

Institutional Transformation: How Online Education is Influencing Strategy, Policy, Practices, and Relationships

Institutions of higher education are grappling with a diverse set of complex issues related to the management of online education, and which have the potential to facilitate institutional transformation. This presentation will provide a common framework for addressing such issues and problems, characterized by inclusive and transparent conversations with campus constituents and external partners. Case studies from Old Dominion and Shippensburg universities will apply this common framework to addressing their respective issues of competitive positioning in distance education and evolving institutional policies and practices. Special emphases will include developing partnerships between four year universities and community colleges, and working within a strong shared governance and unionized faculty environment.

Creating Exceptional Services for Online Students and Faculty: A Toolkit for Building the Right Infrastructure

The right infrastructure is a critical success factor in the growth and enhancement of online program initiatives. This dynamic session will explore the challenges and opportunities that arise as institutions of higher education seek to scale their online programs for larger audiences. Concerns such as staffing, student and faculty support, and training will be addressed, with specific examples of strategic tactics implemented by the School of Global & Professional Programs at Marist College.s

Scaling Online Learning in Tandem: Partnering with an Educational Services Company to Launch Online Degrees

In 2009 Purdue University made a strategic decision to scale up its online degree programs through a public/private partnership with the educational services company Deltak. This task posed broad administrative, academic, and cultural challenges to the University and to the service provider. Our group presentation, featuring staff from Purdue and Deltak, will focus on the challenges of implementing such a partnership in the complex environment of a large traditional public university. To maximize productiveness, prior to the conference we will provide prospective session attendees with an extensive list of these challenges online and invite them to vote on four they would like to hear discussed in the session. Below are some sample challenges.

• Branding: Having the University represented by a third-party entity raised several issues, including branding standards and URLs.
• Faculty compensation: With the University uncomfortable with overload for teaching credit courses, we were faced with challenges with faculty expectations on compensation.
• Recruitment: The interface between Deltak and those responsible for campus graduate recruitment has proven challenging because of differences between traditional graduate study and career-centered online study. The discussion will be frank and candid, highlighting areas where we succeeded in overcoming challenges and others that are still works in progress. The challenges posed and the lessons learned will be of concrete benefit to any institution contemplating a partnership with an educational services company to scale up its distance learning program.

Assessing Outcomes in Online and Face-to-Face Classes: A Comparative Study

This session presents the results of a comparison of student achievement in online and face to face classes. It also demonstrates a system for using student achievement data to initiate course improvements. A key assignment was selected for a selection of general education (distribution) courses, then the courses were taught in traditional, face to face format and online. Wherever possible, the same faculty member taught both the online and face to face sections. The key assignment was used in each section to assess student achievement. Student scores on the assignment are compared across delivery methods. A curriculum development system has been implemented to use the student achievement data to guide revision of the online courses. Signature (Master) courses include assessments that are mapped to course outcomes. The outcomes and assessments remain the same regardless of who teaches the course and when it is taught. Student achievement data is being collected each time the course is taught and stored in a data warehouse. After approximately one year, the data will be reviewed and courses with low student achievement will be revised, then assessed again with the same assessments after a second year to track changes in student achievement. The session will include a demonstration of mapping assessments to outcomes and the use of reports from the data warehouse. The reporting tool permits reports by course, faculty member, and student.

Partnering with External Associations as a Strategy for Success

Western Kentucky University's Division of Extended Learning and Outreach administers a number of online programs in a cohort format. One of the most successful projects to date has been the online Master of Science in Recreation & Sport Administration with a number of concentration tracks designed for targeted professional development of specific student populations such as interscholastic administrators, facility and event managers, and sport media directors. WKU has pursued a strategy of creating partnerships with appropriate professional organizations connected with these concentrations. These associational partnerships have aided management of the online programs through enhancing student's perception of the program's value and creating opportunities for collaboration and targeted student recruitment. The faculty have also benefited from the partnerships with increased opportunities for scholarship, research, and networking. Program growth and student feedback have both demonstrated the strength of the strategy. When the online program was developed in 2009, we were excited to have attracted 15 -20 students to the inagural cohort. Three years later, over 200 students are enrolled for Fall 2012.

Changing the Design Model: Moving from Content Presentation to Activity Based Design

As the technology landscape continues to evolve around distance education and online learning, institutions are questioning the next step with their Learning Management Systems (LMS). Do they continue with an LMS or step out into another environment? Similarly for course design has the time come to move to a different model? Instructional Design for many years has relied on a proven model for the design and development of technology enhanced courses. Whether print, CD-ROM, or online, the model has traditionally been focused on the statement of objectives, followed by the presentation of content, then learning activities, and finally assessment. This formula is repeated throughout each course from lesson to lesson and students and faculty have become very comfortable with this approach. However, with today’s technology tools and ability to enhance collaboration is there a better model; one that would lead to a higher level of engagement and motivation. This session will explore a pilot course at Penn State’s World Campus where the course is designed around learning activities and where the students seek out relevant content and other interactions to help solve the problems they are presented with. The pilot course is an Italian language course and is heavily dependent on building a metaphorical situation for students traveling in Italy. During their travels they must learn and use the Italian language in order to succeed in their trip. This session will not only demonstrate the course and discuss design decisions, but will examine cost aspects in terms of media production, staff time, and an increased development cycle. Questions that remain to be answered include, scalability for DE, appropriateness across disciplines, and effectiveness.

Dave Cillay
Washington State University

Mary Niemiec
University of Nebraska

Julie Uranis
Eastern Michigan University

Moderator:
Monique LaRoque
University of Southern Maine

Online Management & Design Network

Join leaders from the Online Management & Design Network in a dialogue about this new community, how to join and connect with peers engaged in online education, and the Network’s role in developing content for the 2013 Seminar on the Management of Online Programs and a track focused on the issues of online and distance education at the 2013 Annual Conference.

Building Online Student Services From the Ground Up: A Review of Lessons, Challenges, and Initiatives from Program Infancy Through Maturity

Over the past eight years, the University of Southern Maine’s (USM) online initiative has gone from having almost no online courses to having five fully online undergraduate degree completion programs, three online graduate programs, numerous online certificates, as well as over five hundred online courses offered each term. To accommodate this growth, the division of Professional and Continuing Education (PCE) has built an online student success initiative for the university from the ground up.  On the other end of the spectrum, Washington State University Global Campus has been providing online degrees for 20 years, growing steadily to provide eight undergraduate and six graduate degrees, numerous undergraduate and graduate certificates and several non-credit online professional development certificates.  Recently christened as the newest Campus in the WSU system, WSU is working to provide opportunities for connections and community for their online students that mimic the opportunities available to campus-based students, such as guest lectures, cultural events, Job eFair, and a common reading program. While at different stages of development, both USM and WSU share a commitment to student services, and each will share perspectives about the unique needs of nontraditional online students, and how to work collaboratively with colleges and departments to create an outstanding student experience online.

Top Ten list of Effectively Managing Online Programs Including Best Practices for Transitioning Face to Face Programs to Online.

Managing online programs is only successful if the team is an efficient engine working together for the common primary goal of student success. As universities face numerous challenges managing online programs, along with increased enrollments from a global student population comes an even greater need to consider issues involving accessibility, quality, capacity, community, collaboration, and academic integrity. In addition, teaching presence, student engagement, assessment, new technology, interactivity, speed to market, economy, training/development, and innovative course design must be considered.

Maureen Hencmann
Regis University

Adam Samhouri
Regis University

Moderator:
Lauren Mounty
Marist College

Distance Learning: The Cart Before the Horse? Whoa!!

Many institutions of higher education are seeking to enter the online learning arena. They are playing catch up in an industry where institutions have been active for decades. The leadership of these organizations are entering with numerous misconceptions: 1. Existing faculty and staff can develop their online skills as they go along; 2. No additional resources (personnel, finances, infrastructure) need to be expended in the effort; 3. Existing structures should be sufficient to support the endeavor; 4. The culture will automatically change to adapt to this new mode of delivery; 5. Successful classroom-based programs will naturally transition and be successful online. New Ventures of Regis University has consulted with a number of these institutions. In our experience, we find they often put the cart before the horse. They are overlooking the preliminary work necessary to prepare the institution for the challenges of distance learning. The presenters will facilitate a lively discussion that will explore these foundations and outline a systematic approach to implementation.

A Research Based Approach to Improving Social Pedagogy in Blended and Online Programs

Columbia University and Pearson eCollege are collaborating on a unique long term study of how knowledge is absorbed, transferred, applied, expanded, and networked in online and blended programming and courses that are highly social by design. Through social graph analysis and virtual ethnographic method, the study tracks the entire program career of the first cohort in a 16-month, low-residency online masters program offered through Columbia's School of Continuing Education on the Pearson Learning Studio platform. Presentation themes include a robust discussion of the topologies of social knowledge networks that have emerged during the program; rough findings related to design, instructional, and platform technology factors that seem to influence (both positively and negatively) the spread and swell of ideas; and insights related to possible correlations between social engagement, connectedness and student performance. The session will focus on study design, instrumentation, and preliminary findings. Through this presentation we hope to generate awareness of networking research in the space of online learning, and the emerging role of social knowledge networking as a critical dimension of the learning experiences provided through graduate level educational programming. Presenters will highlight ongoing work on the development of pedagogical good practice, design strategies and social platform tools aimed at encouraging learning networks, and will encourage discussion around implications for next-generation blended and online program, course and instructional design.

Decentralized to Centralized Support Services: Experiences & Lessons Learned at UW-Stout

The University of Wisconsin-Stout has been providing online courses and programs since 1998. Exponential growth over the years has prompted UW-Stout to move from a model that provided support from within each of the four colleges to a centralized model of support services. This presentation will focus on the formation of a new unit on campus, “UW-Stout Online”, for support of online courses and programs. Existing campus staff were “pulled” from the colleges where they had established working policies and procedures and moved into a central unit where consistency across all programs needed to be instituted. Currently, 35 programs are available online at UW-Stout. A growing workload along with major organizational change, created much dissent across campus. Many issues arose and have been or are now being addressed. The process of reorganization will be discussed along with lessons learned. UW-Stout Online provides support services for individual courses, undergraduate and graduate level degree programs, professional development for educators online, certificates, certifications and credit outreach programs. Stout Online supports students, instructors, program directors and departments in the delivery of these courses and programs. In 2011-2012, UW-Stout Online supported the offering of 995 course sections resulting in 9,125 registrations generating 25,118 student credit hours, including 640 sections offered online and 38 sections which were offered through other distance education methodologies. UW-Stout Online provides support systems for program directors, student service areas, departments, faculty, and students.

We Are … Penn Staters, Too! Building a Co-curricular Student Experience for Penn State Online Distance Learners

Connecting online distance learners to your institution, as well as to each other, outside of their course environment is an undervalued yet critical piece of the online student retention puzzle. One of the biggest misconceptions regarding online distance learners is, “They’re never going to visit campus. They don’t care what happens here.” At Penn State, the data shows they care: World Campus students join the University’s Alumni Association at a rate almost 20 percent higher than students attending classes at University Park and Commonwealth Campuses; membership in the World Campus chapter of the Blue & White Society ranks the second highest behind University Park. For the World Campus Student Engagement Team, it’s a strategic imperative to capitalize on this momentum and develop creative ways to recreate the “Penn State student experience” for World Campus online distance learners. In this presentation, the World Campus Student Engagement Team will share strategies for the co-curricular engagement of online distance learners, including: -- knowing your students, -- being fearless about technology experimentation, -- building critical partnerships, -- setting metrics to gauge success, -- embracing lessons learned. Specific engagement initiatives the team will discuss include: -- live online events such as Student Town Hall meetings, a speaker series, and Q and A events with Penn State coaches, -- on-campus events such as All University Day, -- student get-togethers hosted nationally, -- clubs and organizations, -- social media. Time for audience Q&A will be incorporated into the discussion.

Christine Irion
Sacramento State University

Deborah George
Sacramento State University

Geoff Herbert
Sacramento State

Moderator:
Sarah Villareal
California State University,
San Marcos

Developing California's State Supervision Online Certificate Program

One of the greatest challenges facing the State of California is the anticipated turnover of over 80,000 of the most experienced state employees during the next five years. According to the California Department of Personnel Administration (DPA), there are currently 35,000 supervisors and managers in state service, and 50% of them will be eligible to retire by 2013. California State University, Sacramento College of Continuing Education has developed an 80-hour State Supervision Online Certificate Program to meet the high demand for state mandated supervisory training. Endorsed by DPA, this fully online, instructor-led, competency-based certificate program will create a new training delivery system well-suited for the state; fulfill workforce development needs for government supervisors across the state; and provide green workforce planning solutions that save taxpayer money and support our environment. The instructional design of the content for the State Supervision Online Certificate Program is competency-based, using the state's validated competency model. A team of six subject matter experts and a lead instructional designer collaborated to develop the curriculum and align learning objectives with the successful behavior indicators for each competency, as defined by the state. The student experience is comprised of interactive exercises, reading assignments, research assignments, threaded discussions, quizzes and self-directed applied learning assignments for an individuated portfolio project experience. In an ongoing effort to meet the State’s need for online accessible content for its employees, creating a rich multimedia experience in an accessible format proved to be a challenge. Content was developed with ADA compliance in mind and the goal was to create a single experience for all users. Since Moodle is the most ADA compliant LMS on the market today, it was determined to be the best platform for offering the program to all learners whether they required assistive technology or not. Using the Lesson module in Moodle, both a flash-based interactive, and a screen-reader friendly alternative are offered simultaneously. The lessons were developed to prompt the user to select which version of the activity they would like to participate in without sacrificing any learning outcomes. Both versions offer the same content which achieved our goal. This presentation will outline the process, tools used, and lessons learned while developing the State Supervision Online Certificate Program. Design templates and other project documents will be shared with participants.

Innovations in Online Proctoring and 24x7 Student Services

Join Dr. Joel Whitesel of Ball State University and Rick Beaudry of B Virtual Inc, in this thought-provoking exploration into the people, process and technology that are driving today’s innovative online student services - live online proctoring; 24x7 student support; and 24x7 faculty services.

The development of online course delivery has enabled distance learning to grow significantly over the last five years, overtaking the growth of campus-based courses over the same period. Learn how Ball State and others have successfully transitioned to the arena of online exams and opened up the support services for their online learners twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Find out why Ball State is seeing this as a marketable innovative student and faculty service. The presenters will discuss the faculty relief factor - they no longer have to “cheat proof” their exams in an environment that they really can not control personally and why it allows them to concentrate back on the subject matter of the course, not so much the administration of it. Learn why the innovations in online proctoring are providing a great way for institutions to promote moving classes online to new departments and faculty, given the level of commitment to quality and academic ethics that was not as obvious previously.

Key Learnings:
1) Learn how Key stakeholders including Senior IT Management, Faculty and the Con Ed departments are working together to architect and implement live online proctoring and online learner support
2) Learn how Ball State seamlessly transitioned their exams into a live online proctored environment.
3) Understand the layers of people, process and technology that create secure and credible live online proctoring.
4) Learn how to leverage the increase in online enrolment to your institution’s advantage with live online proctoring.