Adaptive Learning: The Future is Up to Us

August 8, 2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

Today we’re excited to welcome back Patricia O’Sullivan, the Program Manager for Externally Funded Academic Innovation Projects at the University of Mississippi. Patti inspired us last year with the University of Mississippi’s work in this area to help their students and improve student success. Today she’s back to Frontiers to consider what’s happening with adaptive […]

Improving College Readiness for Every Student: the Importance of Accessibility

June 26, 2019.Reading time 9 minutes.

Today we welcome the President of the NROC Project, Ahrash Bissell, to discuss accessibility as an opportunity we should all be involved with, rather than a regulatory requirement that we should all worry about. We are excited to see this post from our friends at NROC, who have won a WOW award or have collaborated […]

Augmented Reality Adventures in Teaching Horticulture

May 22, 2019.Reading time 9 minutes.

Today we welcome Shannon Riggs, Executive Director of Course Development and Learning Innovation for Oregon State University Ecampus. She is also the author of the forthcoming Thrive Online: A New Approach for College Educators (Stylus, 2019). Shannon shares with us a most fascinating and recent example of innovation — using Augmented Reality to teach Horticulture […]

Generation Z Engaged in the Classroom

March 6, 2019.Reading time 15 minutes.

Picture of Generation Z student studying and touching a large computer screen. The computer screen contains a circular graph that shows how to increase motivation. This picture is an ideal learning environment for a Gen Z student.

Vickie S. Cook, Executive Director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois Springfield, explores the strengths of the innovative and eager Generation Z students. In her blog, she depicts the unique story and gifts offered by this generation within an academic and professional context. As invested educators, we […]

Announcing the Report Reader Checklist: Your newest research resource

January 18, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

Marketing image showcasing the Report Reader Checklist from Oregon State University Ecampus. Includes hyperlink ecampus.oregonstate.edu/checklist.

Today we’re excited to welcome Mary Ellen Dello Stritto and Kathryn Linder from the Oregon State University Ecampus Research Unit to introduce an excellent new resource: the Report Reader Checklist. This checklist is a set of criteria that can help guide report readers and evaluate online education. Thank you to Mary Ellen and Katie for […]

The Year in Review – What WCET Frontiers Posts Did You Read in 2018?

December 20, 2018.Reading time 9 minutes.

The top 10 (10 is crossed out and replaced with 12) WCET Frontiers Posts of 2018: 1. Interpreting What is Required for “Regular and Substantive Interaction” – originally published in 2016 2. E.U. Regulations That Are Enforceable Against U.S. Higher Education Institutions 3. Professional Licensure Notifications & Disclosures for Out-of-State Courses/Programs 4. State Authorization for Distance Ed Federal Regulation to be Implemented 07/01/2018 5. Sweeping Changes Proposed by the Department of Education 6. My online course quality rubric has a first name. It’s O-S-C-Q-R! 7. Is Your Distance Education Course Actually a Correspondence Course? –originally published in 2014 8. The Department of Education’s Plans for Overhauling Accrediting and Innovation Regulations 9. House HEA Proposes Changes for Distance Ed, CBE, and State Authorization – originally published in 2017 10. UNLV Pays a Cost for Not Notifying Students About Charges for Proctoring Services 11. Distance Education Enrollment Growth – Major Differences Persist Among Sectors 12. Federal Regulations Groundhog Day

In 2018, the idea for a “Most Popular Movie” Oscar (thankfully) came and went, we debated whether we heard “laurel” or “yanni,” and J.R. Smith looks lonely on the Cavaliers’ bench after forgetting the clock in the NBA Finals. While we did not cover any of those events in WCET’s Frontiers blog, our stories about […]

The value of micro-credentials and badging needs continual clarification

December 14, 2018.Reading time 19 minutes.

An image showcasing open badge concepts. The explanation reads: Knowledge isn't concrete; it can be gained in a wide variety of ways. Each day, valuable skills and expereince are attained by learners who get involved with activities outside of their formal classroom education. Sports teams and other extracurriculars can positively benefit a student's psyche. Unfortunately, traditional resumes and portfolio programs aren't typically formatted to shed light on the soft skills that are gained through this kind of involvement..

Welcome today to David Porter, CEO of eCampusOntario, who joins us to discuss the value of micro-credentials and badging. After an intriguing keynote presentation at an educational event, David reached out to several education colleagues who work and research in the micro-credentials and badging arena. Today he shares his observations from these discussions, and provides […]

Regional Collaboration in Promoting OER Adoption

December 12, 2018.Reading time 15 minutes.

Today WCET Frontiers is excited to showcase the recent Open Educational Resources (OER) Implementation and Policy Summit for the MHEC States. This multi-state OER meeting brought together OER advocates from across campuses, legislatures, faculty, students, and more to collaboratively learn about OER and OER expansion for their states. To give us a review of this […]

Accessibility & Procurement: What do we need to know?

November 14, 2018.Reading time 22 minutes.

quote box: Higher education needs to “bake” accessibility into our activities rather than wait to “bolt” it on after the fact.

WCET and the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) jointly offer this blog post on a topic of national interest to education communities. This post is part of the on-going collaboration on accessibility issues between WCET and OLC. Thank you to Kelly Hermann, University of Phoenix, for today’s guest post on these important issues! If you’re attending OLC Accelerate […]

The Benefits and Challenges of Course Learning Outcome Assessment in Every Course Every Term

November 7, 2018.Reading time 11 minutes.

Model of the ACT instructional design model. One the outside, analyze - teach - change in a circle surrounding "course, learning outcome, continuous improvement system"

How does your college or program handle learning outcome assessments? Today we’re thrilled to be joined by several representatives from the University of Western States, Bernadette Howlett, Denise Dallmann, Dana Sims-Barbarick, and Susan Donoff, to discuss the University’s Every Course Every Term (ECET) initiative. This continuous improvement program helps faculty collect and act on course […]