This blog post written by:

Patrick Pluscht

Presidential Appointee, U.S. Distance Learning Association Board

The University of Central Florida’s Center for Distributed Learning has become synonymous with award-winning innovation in online education. As recent evidence, in April 2017, the USDLA recognized Dr. Tom Cavanagh, UCF’s Vice Provost for Digital Learning, with the USDLA Outstanding Leadership Award. At the same awards ceremony, members of Tom’s team, Charles Dziuban, Patsy Moskal, Jeffrey Cassisi, and Alexis Fawcett, received the Quality Research Paper Award for their research paper entitled “Adaptive Learning in Psychology:  Wayfinding in the Digital Age.”  In October 2017, UCF received a WCET WOW award for UDOIT: Universal Design Online content Inspection Tool, their open-source accessibility checker which can be used by any institution that uses Canvas.  In September 2017, U.S. News & World Report ranked UCF the 25^th most innovative university in the country out of nearly 1,400 institutions.  So what’s the secret to UCF’s leadership in online education?

According to Tom, the key is striking the right balance between establishing a vision you can stick with and executing the tactics to accomplish that vision. He says these challenges work different muscles, but are both important.

Tom’s overall impact at UCF was noted by University of North Texas President Dr. Neal Smatresk, who served on the most recent Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) on-site committee for UCF’s reaffirmation of accreditation. “Tom has been a remarkable agent of transformation at UCF, creating better services and access for their students, better use of educational technology across the campus and he has been a leader in developing ‘higher ed big data’ in the service of better learning outcomes,” said Smatresk.

If you spend any time talking to Tom, you already know he is quick to give credit to his exceptional team that has grown online learning over 80% since he joined the university. He casually cites favorite Peter Senge quotes like “Innovation is a team sport” and then demonstrates his commitment to this notion by hosting a Hack Day event once per semester to give technical and non-technical staff time to work on new ideas.  Tom knows that if you do a good job answering the “why” question, it is a lot easier to accomplish the “how.”

Tom recognizes that valuable ideas deserve to be shared and not just for the good of your own institution. The UDOIT tool is just one such product-based example that has been implemented at institutions across the country. Tom also freely shares his insights with others whether he’s presenting at national conferences or co-hosting the monthly podcast Teaching Online Podcast (TOPcast) with Dr. Kelvin Thompson, Director of Online Design and Development Strategy at UCF’s Center for Distributed Learning. These podcasts are both fun and thought-provoking.  As an example, check out this podcast episode where Tom and Kelvin discuss some leadership traits and strategies for effectiveness in online learning. The FIRRST heuristic covered in this episode is more formally explained in “Keeping FIRRST things First: The Delicate Dance of Leading Online innovation at Your Institution,” the opening chapter of the 2018 book Leading and Managing e-Learning: What the e-Learning Leader Needs to Know (Educational Communications and Technology: Issues and Innovations) available at Amazon. While Tom didn’t write the book on innovation in online education, he and Kelvin are certainly major contributors.

Tom shared one particular story that perhaps best illustrates why he was recognized for outstanding leadership by the USDLA.  “The biggest things are also the smallest things. I participated in a signing ceremony recently with a new college partner and several UCF Online students spoke. I was nearly in tears listening to their stories about how they could only pursue education online because of work and family obligations, and how the education they were receiving was literally changing their lives. Being a part of that makes the work worthwhile,” Tom said.

Tom’s story is emblematic of what motivates the membership of the USDLA: to know that that we are spending our time and talent doing something that makes a difference in the world.

Learn more about the USDLA and how you too can be a member by visiting www.usdla.org/membership. The association supports all core markets including Enterprise, Government, Telemedicine, Education and others.

USDLA Membership – www.usdla.org/membership

Our Association is unique, not only for its historical commitment to distance learning, but also for engaging with a broad spectrum of distance learning professionals – K-12, higher education, corporate, government, military, telehealth, and home schooling. While more narrowly focused organizations have an important role, a powerful perspective emerges when bright minds serving diverse constituencies come together.

The USDLA was formed in 1987. At that time, companies like Yahoo and Google were still years away. “Power users” were boasting of their Intel 386 processors. In that context, distance learning was a concept well outside the educational mainstream. Granted, a few people knew something of the process, but hands-on distance learning experience was rare. The USDLA provided a means for these pioneers to find one another.

Today, with more than one-third of college students taking an online class, it’s a far different world. But USDLA remains a vital player. Our members continue to seek out other distance learning professionals. These practitioners still want to grow and want to offer students a strong education in a robust community of learning. Today’s the USDLA stands out as a remarkable resource for teachers and administrators who want to enhance the learning experience.

Submit an award nomination today!

This blog written by:

Samantha Penney

USDLA Board Member
Director of Distance Education
Indiana State Online

 Dr. Constance Reece was awarded the USDLA Excellence in Teaching Award for 2017 this May in Indianapolis, IN at the USDLA 2017 National Conference. Dr. Reece teaches psychology at Baker College and her online courses are exemplary.

There were many points of excellence that illustrate the reason Dr. Reece won the award. She focuses on multiple pedagogical aspect within her courses. For instance, she concentrates on developing and implementing quality course outcomes. She interacts with the students and provides frequent feedback to the students. Dr. Reece stated “Teaching online offers a wonderful opportunity to connect with students. As an online instructor, I have the opportunity to reach almost every student simply because there are so many ways to connect with them. I communicate via email, posts, texts, feedback, and my phone. Even the reticent students have the chance to receive one-on-one guidance”.  She uses a variety of teaching methodologies in her courses such as real life examples, case based scenarios, questioning and reflection. She also presents multiple resources to aid in student learning styles and preferences. And she focuses on bringing prior learning to the forefront when she sets up new activities or discussions, thus scaffolding learning.

Some of the activities she uses to assess her outcomes are weekly discussions that call on student to apply and analyze course concepts, journal entries that allow for reflection and self-connections, self-check quizzes, and guided steps to projects that provide opportunities for scaffolding knowledge. Dr. Reece indicated one process she uses, “I start each class with a questionnaire. Students provide answers to ten questions about their needs, skills, learning style, goals, expectations, and interests. I respond to each questionnaire. It’s a lengthy process, but it opens the door for further communication. In my response, I address their areas of concern and offer specific assistance. I specifically note that I want to see them succeed. The questionnaire personalizes the course immediately. I keep the questionnaires handy throughout the course so that I continue to meet their needs.”

She provides formative feedback that keeps students on the right track or provides them information needed to get back on track. According to Dr. Reece, “Quality feedback takes time. Students want detailed feedback that includes explanations and examples. Feedback should be individualized so each student can grow. It’s easy to tell students what they did wrong, but it’s equally important to tell them what they did right. Although it may take creativity, it’s important to highlight something the student did well. The discussion board is a great place to add some positive feedback because other students can benefit too.” She is a proponent of detailed, specific, and individualized feedback that is constructive and positive to help students understand what was well constructed and what could be improved upon.

As a proponent of learning engagement, Dr. Reece uses social presence to help students feel involved and part of the community. She uses engagement so that the students have the opportunity to interact with the concepts taught in the course through activities such as games. Thus allowing students to build their own course identity where their voices and experiences are valued. One of the strategies she uses is to develop a welcome discussion at the start of class. Another is regular notes that introduce students to new topics or assignments. Both of these help her contribute and model a collaborative learning environment.

The USDLA Awards Committee selected Dr. Constance Reece due to the success mentioned above and in addition to the variety of experiences and student comments that were supplied in her nomination. She demonstrated a strong focus in teaching and learning and provided excellent points of engagement with her students that guide them to be successes. One bit of advice she has for instructors or institutions is “start with high expectations for students, instructors, and the program. Students will rise to the level of expectations. If you expect students to post once or twice a week, you will never have the level of participation necessary to have a fully engaged atmosphere. Expect instructors to be actively involved and committed to student success. Programs require continual development. Use student feedback to improve the program”.

Giving Tuesday

On Tuesday, November 28, 2017, USDLA will be participating in the 6th annual #GivingTuesday, a global day to celebrate philanthropy and giving back.

Call for proposals due for 2018 USDLA Conference!!

This blog was written by:

Dr. Darcy W. Hardy

USDLA Chair Emerita

Madison Kingsford always envisioned going into science, but not necessarily teaching.  Both of her parents have medical careers – Madison at first thought she would be a pharmacist, but quickly changed to microbiology in college.  While in college, she started tutoring other students and realized she really loved helping other students appreciate science.  She decided then that she would teach and has now been teaching for five years, all of it online.  You see, Madison has never taught in a “bricks and mortar” setting, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

 When Madison graduated and started looking for a job, she didn’t have to look far.  Mountain Heights Academy is a tuition-free, online public charter school.  It is also “the most highly rated accredited online charter school in Utah for its high standardized test scores, unparalleled teacher interaction, graduation rate, and personalized instruction.”  Further, Mountain Heights is an Open Educational Resources (OER) school, meaning the teachers do a lot of the course writing, but they are encouraged to look at OERs wherever possible.  Madison teaches 8^th grade science and 11^th grade forensics, and spends a lot of time looking at OER materials.  It was through her searching that she discovered other technologies to incorporate into her courses. 

 Madison’s courses are lively, engaging, and highly interactive.  She uses Google apps and her students do a lot of chatting in Google Hangout.  As she pointed out to me, some students really don’t like video-based chat applications because they are uncomfortable with the face-to-face aspect.  Those students prefer to communicate by typing and emailing instead.  Madison says one of the strong points of being online is to feel less intimidated, and she definitely sees this with her students.  She also holds office hours, gives assignments in Google Docs so she can provide direct feedback, gives group projects, and encourages the use of study groups.  Students can set up their own groups with Bb Collaborate, or they can go to a Google Hangout.  A lot of the kids attend the study groups just so they can see each other and expand their social interaction.  Madison firmly believes that the online environment can be just as engaging as face-to-face if one understands how to take advantage of available technologies.

 Mountain Heights is south of Salt Lake City, and although any student in Utah can enroll there, most students live within an hour or two of the school.  The school provides school clubs, both in person and online.  The optional face-to-face activities are generally well-received, and many students complete their entire K-12 education at Mountain Heights.  This gives teachers like Madison the opportunity to watch their students advance just like they would in a traditional school setting.  Graduation is a grand event and most students attend with their families.

 Madison has specific goals for using technology in her classrooms and with her students.  She hopes her students become comfortable with technology, so by the time they finish her class they are used to it.  She tries to take the “fear” out of technology, and pushes her students to try everything she puts in front of them.  From a science perspective, she wants her students to be science literate.  She is very concerned how people in society find things on the Internet and think they are automatically true.  Her teaching of science extends from the platform.  Students (people) need to know how to look at the claims people make and debunk them if necessary using evidence and data.  She wants her students to know the difference between truth and falsehood, and be prepared to confirm whether or not something is accurate. 

 Finally, service learning is a big part of Mountain Heights Academy.  In Madison’s courses, she uses Zooniverse (www.zooniverse.org).  Zooniverse is a public site that provides options for people-powered, crowd-sourcing research.  Her students can see images of penguins where they live, tag them, and enter data about them.  It’s exciting for the students and for her, the students feel like real contributors, and best of all, it’s free!  Recycling is another project for her students.  Did you know you can recycle online?  Madison works with TerraCycle (www.terracycle.com), a company that takes waste normally not recyclable and makes it into projects.  Her students collect cereal bags, toothpaste tubes, deodorant, etc., and they send them to TerraCycle at the end of the year.  Another exciting, hands-on way to demonstrate science while learning about service.

 It’s easy to see why Madison received a 2017 USDLA Excellence in Teaching/Training Award this past spring in Indianapolis.  She’s passionate about science, passionate about online and technology-enabled learning, and most of all, passionate about her students.  Congratulations again to Madison for this well-deserved recognition!

 Be sure to attend the 2018 USDLA Annual Conference to see who wins next year!  Better yet, submit your own nomination!