Mindfulness
Don’t be “Clueless” about mindfulness. Yes, you read that right; I did reference the pop culture movie “Clueless,” which some of you might remember viewing. However, pop culture can teach valuable lessons about our society…
ITC
Interview and inquiry: Rethinking writing and research
For years, higher education has been reevaluating how to look at the student research process. At first, sites like Wikipedia and Google were the bane of any professor’s existence. Then came the onslaught of blog…
The future of distance learning
The Instructional Technology Council, an affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges, is running a series of articles focusing on the anticipated impact of distance learning over the next 10 years. * *…
The role of leadership in distance learning
We all know that distance learning has been thrust into the higher education spotlight over the past three years, but as we continue to return to a more predictable blend of in-person and online teaching…
The future of online education: Invest in your adjuncts
Picture it: a college basement adjunct lounge, 2017. In four years, I never saw anyone be able to print anything from the printer. There was a random toy castle on one of the shelves —…
10 trends to watch in distance learning
As we all know, prior to the Covid pandemic, the growth of online enrollments at colleges and universities had been phenomenal. As late as 2019, online enrollments were on average 25% of overall community college…
What’s on your course menu?
Think about your online course shell like a website for your class. When you go to a website, what are you looking for in terms of navigation or design? Think about the last website you…
The perfect organizational structure?
Reporting structures vary widely among institutions and change over time. According to the annual ITC survey, distance learning reporting structures shifted from “technology” to “academics” ending up with 80% of respondents indicating that they report…
The influence of instructional designers
For many community colleges, instructional design and online faculty support consist of a small team of individuals who wear many hats. These individuals often have different titles from organization to organization, such as learning content…
It’s not all async or swim with online courses
While everyone loves the flexibility and independence of online courses, sometimes a sense of isolation can settle in for both instructors and students. Most communication in online courses is text-based and can be a bit…