Esuring Quality of Online Education Programs

In spring 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic swept across the country, colleges and universities swiftly shuttered their campuses to students, unsure of for how long or what was coming next. As faculty scrambled to continue their courses virtually, they utilized emergency remote learning to deliver course content like lectures and seminars, facilitated online assessments, and…

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It’s Past Due for Online Education Students and Programs To Be Appreciated

person drinking tea while working on a laptop

Starting in the 1990s—which is a relatively long time ago for me and many Millenials (I went to elementary school in the ‘90s!)—the budding pathway of distance education and later online education for undergraduate and graduate degrees became one that students began to take at many institutions. In 1995, more than one-third of US institutions…

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Is Online Higher Education Working? Only Data Will Tell

empty classroom facing chalkboard

As thousands of colleges and millions of college students prepare for a fall semester that will likely be partially or fully online, it may not have been comforting to see the President of the United States’ recent tweet:  This tweet reflects a few realities. The first is that while the promise of online higher education…

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Accountability in a Post-Pandemic Landscape

woman on a Mac laptop with headphones on

Every day, colleges and universities are facing new and difficult realities as they address the unprecedented circumstances brought about by COVID-19. There are countless emerging concerns that require immediate attention and resources. Accreditation agencies have made extraordinary efforts to embrace flexibility and innovation while remaining focused on the essentials: an institution’s capacity to carry out…

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COVID-19 Accelerated Online Learning, But Where Do We Go From Here?

single bike in a bike rack in front of an ivy-covered school

Shifting Indiana’s higher education learning system to an online delivery model overnight would have seemed impossible at the beginning of 2020. Yet here we are, reckoning with the impact of our campuses shut down for months on end with classes hastily pushed online and uncertainty about what will happen in the fall. The fallout of…

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Powerful Together: Competency-Based Education and Online Delivery

Higher education—and sweeping aspects of American life—were upended seemingly overnight in March. Millions of students started the month on campuses across the country and ended it on computers at home. Now, after institutional leaders have absorbed the initial shock and navigated through the spring and into summer, they’re looking to map out an uncertain future…

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Policies Needed for Online Learners in 2020

hands typing on a laptop

Online learning plays a critical role for today’s students by offering greater flexibility to accommodate work schedules and, in many cases, creating more affordable pathways to credentials. However, concerns over quality and potential bad actors have inspired repeated attempts to regulate distance education in a manner that appropriately balances innovation with quality assurance and consumer…

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