~written by Amy Greene, Executive Director of Online Learning
Many exciting things are happening in eLearning at Ferris State University and beyond.
First, we are excited to introduce the newest member of our team, Kelley Senkowski. Kelley is a part-time Online Design Consultant who will split her time between main campus and our Grand Rapids location! Kelley comes to us with an incredible background in online course design and differentiated instruction.
Second, we would like to introduce Engaged!, a new blog written by the eLearning team members. We will cover timely topics related to technology-enhanced pedagogy, such as engagement, game-based learning, artificial intelligence, video, assessment, etc. Look for it weekly in your Tuesday’s UWN!
To continue providing the best experience for our students and their success after graduation, we must take into account trends and projections in higher education. You may not be shocked to hear online delivery of educational courses continues to grow. Data collected by the Babson Survey Research group in collaboration with the Online Learning Consortium (2018) shows 30% of college students took at least one online course in 2015-2016 and by 2019, 50% of all classes will be delivered online. This trend is not unique to higher education, with 98% of all companies planning to use eLearning by 2020.
Of course, the elephant in the room when discussing eLearning trends is always, “How do we maintain rigor and academic integrity in an environment that seems to inherently challenge those measures of quality?” Although research shows students in online courses are no more likely to cheat than face-to-face students, it’s still important to design online environments that maximize content learning and application while minimizing threats to excellence. Also, 90% of students think online learning is the same or better than a traditional classroom experience.
The eLearning team at Ferris is excited to work with faculty this semester. There is no project too small or too large! Please email (elearning@ferris.edu) or call (ex. 2802) our team!
References
Babson Survey Research Group in collaboration with the Online Learning Consortium (2018), Grade Increase: Tracking Distance Education in the United States, Pearson, and Tyton Partners, accessed online 28 August 2018 at https://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/highered.html.
