Steve Ehrmann, Vice Provost Julie DeLoia, GW Public Health & Health Sciences Liesl Riddle, GW School of Business

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1 Steve Ehrmann, Vice Provost Julie DeLoia, GW Public Health & Health Sciences Liesl Riddle, GW School of Business

2 What do we mean by a good or great online program? 1. It can t possibly be as good as on campus 2. Yes it can! It can and should be comparable in quality (content and tests) Tom Russell: No significant difference in outcomes

3 Commodity Online Learning Each learner has, or will have, access to dozens of online programs in the same field Indistinguishable from one another, especially those from institutions not well known in the learner s location Compete on price, sizzle of marketing

4 How Could an Online Program Be (or Seem) Better (?) 1. Than at least some online programs? 2. Than at least some campus programs?

5 Making Ours Visibly Better than Theirs 1996: Use technology in ways that enhance 1. Faculty-student interaction 2. Student-student collaboration 3. Active learning 4. Prompt feedback 5. Time on task 6. Higher expectations 7. Diverse ways of learning

6 Quality Matters Criteria for instructional design of a course, such as Good introduction to the course materials Clear, measurable goals Appropriate assessment Appropriate resources

7 Visibly Better in the Marketplace? Suppose your program (on campus, online) was great in all those ways. Would distant potential students notice?

8 Challenge What design features of an online program: Can create superlative quality Can impress potential students as obvious evidence of quality Are easier to implement because the program is online Help your program gain a lasting quality advantage over the competition

9 Meeting the Challenge: Six Design Elements 1. A dream team of local and distant experts who develop, teach and/or assess student work. 2. Hybrid features used to enhance educational quality. 3. Collaborating organizations/sites that provide research problems, faculty and staff, students, sites for applying skills, additional courses, and sometimes a distinctive identity for the program. 4. Options, tracks and customization appropriate for differences among students. 5. Online structures and practices that help everyone feel exceptionally connected and supported, and/or 6. Use of the hybrid setting to help students learn to excel in a modern workplace.

10 1. Dream Team GW School of Public Health and Health Services (SPPHS) Recruited the best teaching faculty from current ranks; Used national professional society to spot superlative teachers who d recently retired; Recruited proven SPHHS faculty who had relocated or retired; Brings in experts for individual lectures or panel presentations.

11 1. Dream Team GW School of Business (GWSB) Digital Community: Recruited best faculty among ranks Faculty teaching electives include practitioners from the business and policy community recruited globally All courses incorporate alumni asynchronously or synchronously Feedback on assignments Interact in live sessions with the class Spotlight videos where alumni explain how a course concept (e.g., global mindset ) influences their work:

12 1. Dream Team It d One University program has incorporated distant experts into how students learn. What s the program? What are the experts doing?

13 2. Hybrid: Exploit Place GW s Hybrid Master s Program in Dance recruits as students: Artists with dance companies where they can put into practice all of their projects (choreographic research, touring, performances, presentations); Dance professors at universities where they can create choreography for presentation and in lecture forums; Artists related to various community programs that provide studio space and opportunities for presentation of work.

14 2. Hybrid: Exploit Place Public Health Network of 500 practicum sites for our online students Online students will bring additional practicum sites

15 2. Exploiting Hybrids It s One of QU s programs is a hybrid and drawing a lot of favorable comment? Describe it? In what (local or distant) place do its students sometimes work?

16 3. Partners that Shape the Program Hypothetical: a nursing program partnering with hospitals where students (hospital employees) get carefully mentored coaching and where hospital staff co-teach courses.

17 3. Partners that Shape the Program Public Health: 2U GWSB: Pearson and In the Telling Advantages of working with corporate partners Risk capital Experience with other university partners Distinctive skills (e.g., documentary film making experience) Help with approval to operate in many states Enhancements over vanilla platforms like Blackboard In some cases have access to treasure trove of digital assets, which are then free for students

18 3. Partners that Shape the Program It s Describe a QU program that has become distinguished because of its online or hybrid relationship with one or more distant, collaborating organizations or agencies

19 4. Options, Tracks, Customization Take advantage of scale, time to develop options tailored to student needs Motives: Increase student motivation to work hard in the program by making relevance obvious (e.g., sections organized by careers) Increase convenience (e.g., sections that meet almost any possible time weekly, 24x 7)

20 4. Options, Tracks and Customization GW Public Health: Create a library of cases within courses from which students can choose, depending on their interests

21 4. Options, Tracks, Customization It s Can you describe a QU online/hybrid program that has become known for how it tailors sections to students with differing needs? Or doing some other form of tailoring or customization as it has grown?

22 5. Exceptional Connectedness, Bonding Public Health Small classes, f2f synchronous sessions

23 5. Exceptional Connectedness, Bonding GWSB Digital Communities in the courses Documentary film techniques designed to engage students

24 5. Exceptional Connectedness, Bonding GWSB Digital Communities: Co-curricular program to create networking and professional development opportunities Speed networking chats with alumni Roundtable discussions with alumni via videoconferences

25 5. Exceptional Connectedness, Bonding It s One of QU s programs, online or on campus, (or maybe the whole university) has become deservedly well-known because of this way of using online media to help strengthen community, and give students a stronger sense of connection with faculty. How was this done?

26 6. Educating Students for the Hybrid Workplace Almost every profession and vocation features some people who work in hybrid environments, continually making choices of how to communicate and how to collaborate. A distinguished, hybrid program can intentionally prepare its students for that workplace

27 6. Educate Students for Hybrid Work GWSB: Develops global and virtual team and online business communication skills Professional development courses (e.g., Leadership and Teams in a Virtual Environment, Online Business Communication Toolkit modules) Course assignments and projects designed for global and virtual student teams Rubrics and other feedback mechanisms used to measure students global and virtual team performance

28 6. Educating Students for the Hybrid Workplace What s an example of a skill for working in a hybrid workplace? How might QU take advantage of a hybrid program in X to help teach that skill?

29 Summary: Six Design Elements 1. A dream team of local and distant experts 2. Hybrid features used to enhance educational quality 3. Collaborating organizations/sites that provide research problems, faculty and staff, students, sites for applying skills, (etc.) 4. Options, tracks and customization that respond to differences among students 5. Online structures and practices that help everyone feel exceptionally connected and supported. 6. Use of the hybrid setting to help students learn to excel in a modern workplace.

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