St. Mary’s is also developing hybrid degree programs to increase enrollment on a campus with limited physical space; the Digital Driver’s License is designed to facilitate faculty success in this modality.
The School of Economics and Business Administration at St. Mary’s College of California deployed a comprehensive instructional training program for their faculty in 2014 tied to the utilization of a newly created digital media center. Working in 6-person cohorts, all business school faculty will become certified as “digitally proficient teachers” within two years.
Spearheaded by the business school’s Director of Technology and Online Programs, Dr. Barry Eckhouse, St. Mary’s program represents a robust, resourced, professional development training concept for faculty use of instructional technology, offering workshops, courses and hands-on training to enhance the capability of faculty to utilize and engage with technology in their teaching. This 2014 initiative is charged with training all faculty in the School of Economics and Business Administration (SEBA), all of whom will be certified as digitally proficient teachers (the ‘Digital Driver’s License’) through a combination of online instruction and hands-on training with the tools available in a newly built digital media center. The faculty progress through training in 6-person cohorts, with the goal of certifying all 34 SEBA faculty within two years.
This certification effort is occurring as the business school simultaneously grows its hybrid degree offerings–a decision made in order to maximize the availability of classroom seats on a campus unable to further physically expand. By the time all faculty are certified, it is likely that all SEBA degree programs will be offered in a hybrid format.
See the official announcement for further details.
This innovation was heralded by Inside Higher Ed, eCampus News, and the Contra Costa Times.
