Professional Education

We’ve likely all heard myths about online learning.  Specifically, that anyone can succeed in an online learning environment and that online classes are easier for students than traditional face-to-face classes.  In a recent webinar, however, Instructional Designer Loren Kleinman of Berkeley College dispelled these myths while discussing how best to design engaging courses with Instructional Design Theory, using her school’s unique online learning prep course as an example.

Kleinman argues that while many students are savvy when it comes to accessing the web on mobile devices or using social networks, this does not always translate to skills necessary for success in online learning.  As such, Berkeley College ensures that incoming students will have positive outcomes during their tenure at the school by requiring a Road to Success in Online Learning (RTS) course to evaluate and determine students’ motivation, commitment, and ability to function effectively online.  In order to create this course, Loren implemented best practices of Instructional Design Theory to ensure it was developed to foster student success and accurately reflect their comfort in an online learning setting.

Here are some of Kleinman’s tips for using instructional design when designing online learning courses:

• Know your audience: Are your learners primarily Millennials or adults? Traditional or non-traditional students?  These and other demographic questions will impact the teaching methodology used in online curriculum development.

We are excited to announce an upcoming webinar to explore best practices in instructional design, which can help professional colleges and universities determine students’ chances for success in an online learning environment.

Leading this webinar is Instructional Designer Loren Kleinman from Berkeley College, an institution which requires all students to enroll in Road to Success in Online Learning (RTS) as a prerequisite to registering for online courses. RTS was designed to evaluate and determine students’ motivation, commitment and ability to function effectively in Blackboard. Since Berkeley College has experienced notable results from their RTS implementation, they want to share advice with others who seek to implement Instructional Design Theory for similar programs at their respective institutions.

If you believe your professional college or university can benefit from strategies in implementing Instructional Design Theory and best practices in developing online learning prep courses, be sure to tune into this webinar!

Details:

When: Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

Speakers: Loren Kleinman, M.A., Instructional Designer,  Berkeley College

Register: http://bit.ly/RMvD8C

Hope to see you there!

The ProEd team recently hosted an interesting webinar about various ways our solutions help career colleges stay compliant with the wide range of laws and regulations they must follow.  I found the webinar to be informative not only because it discussed important Blackboard capabilities, but also because it served as an overview of the trends in for-profit regulation and policy that currently impact our schools.

Below is a list of some of the regulations we covered during our webinar, along with a discussion of the ways Blackboard can help professional colleges and universities comply with these rules:

The Clery Act:  Under the Clery Act, career colleges must provide emergency notifications to students when there is an immediate threat to their health or safety. With Blackboard Connect, schools can send mass messages to students and staff via text, email, recorded voice messages, and even social media quickly and reliably. Blackboard Connect has been so useful to universities that entire communities are now using this technology to notify residents of an emergency! At the same time, institutions can use the same system to communicate with students regarding course deadlines and changes, as well as policy updates.

Check Fraud: As we have discussed in a recent post, there are regulations in place to address debit cards and other banking mechanisms used to disburse Federal Student Aid (read more here).  Blackboard Pay helps professional colleges and universities avoid violations of these rules by eliminating many fees to student aid accounts, including credit exposure and overdraft fees.

Not long ago, I wrote a post about BlackboardPay, a card-based solution that can enhance the efficiency and ease of financial services at professional and career colleges in a way that represents students’ interests. You may have also heard, however, that there has been controversy surrounding another card-based solution in the news lately.  Below is a brief explanation that should help dispel misconceptions about this situation as well as provide insight into what an institution should look for when searching for a financial aid disbursement partner.

Financial Aid Disbursement Solutions

Currently, several companies’ financial aid disbursement solutions are built upon a model of charging fees on students’ bank cards and checking accounts designated to receive financial aid credit balances or refunds. This model has generated much controversy in recent months, as this approach, in addition to putting institutions at risk for not meeting federal disbursement regulations, is not designed to maximize the educational benefit of students’ financial aid. For a student on a tight budget, excessive fees add up and can significantly impact their higher education experience. Below, we offer 3 principles to keep in mind when selecting a partner to distribute financial aid:

1. Standards that Institutions should Seek in Financial Aid Disbursement Solutions “Traditional” fee-based banking models were never designed with the unique needs of students in mind, especially those receiving financial aid, and should be significantly modified.

Let’s face it – it’s not just the students checking their Facebook accounts and watching videos on YouTube these days.  So why wouldn’t we transition these tools to education delivery?  Looks like these worlds are crossing more often than we think!