An orientation program for an online master’s degree in education leadership was recently recognized with an Effective Practice Award from the Online Learning Consortium (OLC).
Crafted by Anne-Marie Balzano, associate professor with the College of Education and Human Development, and Ying-Ying Kuo, instructional designer for the Office of Digital Learning, the orientation is designed to introduce new students to online learning and address concerns about technology and working virtually with their professors and peers.
Stephen Nodine, director of the Office of Digital Learning, says that the five-day program, which begins the week before classes start, helps familiarize students with online tools like Blackboard and Kaltura that help them stay connected with their classmates throughout the semester.
“All of this helps to reduce any anxiety levels, to identify issues about technology or anything else ahead of time when it’s low pressure so that when they start their first class, it’s going to be more of a comfortable setting for them,” Nodine said.
In their evaluations of the program, students said the orientation eased their hesitations about the online classroom and that they felt prepared to execute their assignments with the proper course technology. Many of them also enjoyed getting to know their classmates through introductory videos posted before the class started.
Nodine says that this award is one of many ways that George Mason University is being recognized for its online degree programs. Another George Mason instructor and instructional designer were awarded the Sloan-C (now OLC) Effective Practice Award in 2015 for a submission on experiential learning with multimedia-based activities and blogging.
“This is not an uncommon practice to have an orientation; however, they have done an uncommonly good job of implementing it. Their program stands out not just at Mason, but compares well to other universities elsewhere,” Nodine said.
The award will be presented to Balzano and Kuo at the OLC’s Innovate Conference in April, where they will also have the opportunity to speak about the program and their best practices during one of the conference’s breakout sessions.