Summary
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- InTRO remains a small boat surging forward within the waters of the UO ocean!
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- We took this “selfie” in preparation for a virtual presentation to other technologists in the Pacific Northwest.
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- Here’s one re-imagining of possible organizational structures at UO.
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- Look! All that comparator research got finished!
March was a transitional month for InTRO. We completed our initial round of comparator research, began sharing our findings with both internal and external audiences, and established a framework for our upcoming annual report. An opportunity to attend the UPCEA national conference provided context for our findings and showcased a wide variety of potential models for future educational technology and online program development.
Outreach
We’re pleased to note that we are making some progress on our outreach measures! An InTRO 4Winds slide has been provided to Library Communications and Marketing for digital display. An informational postcard is being prepared at Printing and Mailing Services, and will be distributed to UO faculty in April.
Collaboration
We have some exciting new collaborative efforts in the works! We have participated in initial discussions with the Office of Academic Affairs regarding the development of New Faculty and OA Orientation into a hybrid on boarding experience, and look forward to helping out with the first iteration of this project. Lindsey was asked to serve on a project team for Information Services, assisting with some of the many complex elements of the upcoming Office 365 rollout. And after consulting with staff at the Appropriate Dispute Resolution Center at the School of Law, we have referred them to Academic Extension to move forward on building a hybrid program for mediation training–lots of potential there!
Conference Travel
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- The first conference keynote was given by Dr. Jill Biden.
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- Syracuse University showcased its use of the OLC Quality Scorecard.
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- Paul LeBlanc discussed the future of American higher education.
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- Greg and Lindsey toured the U.S. Capitol following the conference. 🙂
Our long-awaited trip to Washington, DC in the last week of March did not disappoint. Attendance at UPCEA made clear that a number of well-established, high-quality digital education programs struggled through periods of confusion in order to adjust towards technological innovation. The dynamic presentations stressed the value of strong administrative leadership and a clearly defined academic mission in the development of initiatives. Not only were we able to network with our peers from across the country, we got turned on to some great resources, including the Online Learning Consortium’s Quality Scorecard, and UPCEA’s new Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership. Both include excellent resources and strategies that could be put to use for local data collection and quality program development at UO.
Coming Up…
In April, we will begin to conduct a deeper investigation of best practices and productive organizational models at our most innovative digital education peers. Institutions currently under consideration include the University of Michigan, the University of Missouri, and Iowa State University. We will also be participating in the new UO Educational Technology Community of Practice, and will begin drafting our first annual report, which will be released in June 2015 in both hard copy and blog-based versions.