Instructional Design and Technology

Can your institution create something that is technically stable and pedagogically dynamic?

Once the curriculum is in place, it needs to be adapted to the online environment. Too many institutions try to cut and paste their standard syllabi into the online classroom, thinking the two environments are pedagogically similar. But they are not similar at all. Online learning can be extremely effective, but the classroom experience has to be redesigned.

A well-designed virtual learning environment makes the syllabus come alive. It combines technology and pedagogy to engage faculty and students in an exciting exchange of ideas. Our curriculum design experts can help faculty develop a program that stimulates, invigorates, and results in an outstanding learning experience.

A well designed online classroom should provide more context for the subject at hand, more exposure to the most recent and relevant changes to the topic, and an environment that is more focused on the student learning than the faculty teaching. Finally, activity in this environment is nearly always more participative, and that participation is generally more planned and thoughtful. Such a learning experience generates the exemplary academic outcomes for which online learning is increasingly known.

An important aspect of online learning is the measurement of those outcomes. Increasingly, academic institutions are required to show evidence of the value that they add to students. A well organized online classroom captures outcomes on an ongoing basis and in a format that can be used to inform outcomes, processes, and reporting requirements.

And finally, a rewarding academic experience is one of several important pillars for good retention. Retention is perhaps our greatest evidence of success.