Conference Presentations

Faculty at our institution are interested in improving their courses but were overwhelmed by the expectations of the QM rubric and the formal peer review process.  Our institution has created an online training course, an intermediate level Quality Assurance Checklist, and an internal peer review process to help raise the quality of online and blended courses, creating a more gradual pathway to meeting the QM standards.

How can you create a culture of Quality Matters in online instructional design at your college? This presentation describes the steps being taken at one New Mexico community college to change the culture while implementing a systematic approach to internal peer reviews of online courses based on the Quality Matters Rubric.  At Central New Mexico College in Albuquerque, NM, instructional designers and faculty are involved in this effort as the college prepares to offer a fully online Liberal Arts degree. 

This session is designed for those seeking ways to blend traditional evaluation tools into the  digital education landscape using National Standards for Quality Online Teaching and other local standards to optimize conversations and encourage professional growth for digital educators around best practices. There will be opportunities for conversation and sharing regarding local practices around supporting teachers, teacher growth,  and professional learning.

QM implementation plans focus on building coalitions with various stakeholders and are led by a faculty task force. We plan to implement the QM process by utilizing LMS templates, one-on-one consultations, and internal course reviews. In addition, we provide opportunities for QM PD and recognition.

Come and see our powerful "One-Stop Interactive Quality Assurance Shop" developed by the Design team of University of Maryland. From our first-hand experiences, you will gain insights into the challenges and opportunities encountered in the process of developing a multi-media based interactive QA system that encompasses a checklist, design templates, and design tutorials.

Institutions must create high-quality closed captions for videos delivered online. A large public university has created a three-tiered approach to developing captions on budget and at scale. Join us to see if our processes could be useful for your institution.

Navigating a course is like planning a road trip. Learners find their way while being aware of potential potholes, toll roads, and speed traps. Learn how thoughtful assessment planning at a public community college lead to customized competency-based education (CBE) courses that help learners reach their learning destination.

Navigating a course is like planning a road trip. Learners find their way while being aware of potential potholes, toll roads, and speed traps. Learn how thoughtful assessment planning at a public community college lead to customized CBE courses that help learners reach their learning destination.

The first impression of an online course can be enhanced with a clear overview and course introduction for learners. This session will address best practices related to including multimedia for the purpose of introducing a course. Two free multimedia tools (Screencast-O-Matic" and VoiceThread) will be shared about how to create engaging videos in a course “tour”.  The “tour” will assist learners with orientation to the learning management system and the design of the course.

This session explores our small campus's QM pilot program, with key faculty members participating in an APPQMR workshop, eventually leading to a plan to certify all of our online faculty before the launch of our first online degree programs.

In this roundtable session we review our college's evolution from individual faculty implementation of DL courses to college-wide development of policies for DL course design assessment. We highlight key points from our policies and some of the challenges we encountered.  Participants discuss ideas for their own colleges, in cluding the integration of QM standards in college policies and implications for related faculty development programs.  The Pdfs included here are the handout for the session as well as the Scribe Sheet that recorded participant commentary.    

Providing academic support services to students in 100% online degree programs can be difficult. Add to the mix a large multi-campus institution with students taking courses across these campuses and it becomes perplexing. Come learn how Indiana University offers academic support in writing and math directly to online students.

While there appears to be an abundance of literature on whether online narrated presentations are effective (i.e., lead to positive learning outcomes such as increased attendance and achievement) as compared to traditional lectures, there is not as much literature on what makes online narrated presentations effective. Perhaps that is due to the expectation that what is done in the traditional lecture is simply to be replicated in the online environment or to the assumption that what makes the traditional lecture successful will be the same as what makes the online presentation successful.

Discover a tool that streamlines curriculum development while also ensuring QM alignment. Use it with your team to create, update, analyze, and make informed decisions about curricula that meet QM Standards. Bring a laptop and your curriculum components to apply the tool or watch an example.

This introduction to easily implemented, accessible design strategies will help you meet the needs of students with disabilities and improve the user experience for all students by making smart decisions about headings, font style and size, white space, and contrast.

Participants examine resistance to online teaching, quality assurance, and course development; learn effective ways to address perceived barriers; and identify approaches to engage diverse faculty in a campus-wide QM Community of Practice on their campuses.

The Perfect Module 

Presented by Jim Marteney, Certified Etudes Trainer

Key class content is placed in modules. Is this information organized in a stimulating manner, just randomly offered, or, as some say, "thrown against the wall"? This session looks at a course that incorporates key elements of the Quality Matters Rubric by using a variety of strategies to create an organized module that is informative, engaging, interactive, and something students will want to visit.

Low retention rates at the course and program level for online learners have dogged many institutions. By bringing together advising, IT, and institutional research / analytics professionals, The American Women's College has launched a variety of projects to achieve wrap-around supports that contribute to retention and graduation rates 20% above national averages. Attendees will brainstorm how such teamwork could transpire at their institutions to promote increased student success.

How do you institute optimal quality assurance on a budget? The conversation revolves around creative and innovative ways of ensuring quality through the use of available institutional resources. We share a four tier review process and discuss ways to manage the process.

This is a "conversation that matters" session and as such will involve group discussions.