Selecting the platforms and tools to support effective online learning presents an ongoing challenge to higher education institutions. This session explores the results of study conducted during the Fall of 2016 exploring the efforts to develop online learning environments, in light of sometimes-competing pedagogical and pragmatic needs.
Selecting and implementing the platforms and tools to support online learning effectively in higher education presents a challenge for which there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Finding the right balance between supporting strong pedagogy, offering training and support, providing data security and privacy, ensuring ease of use, among other factors, shape the decisions that leaders in higher education make as they develop and implement online learning environments. This session explores the results of a study conducted during the Fall of 2016 that explored the efforts to develop online learning environments, in light of sometimes-competing pedagogical and pragmatic needs. The study considers these efforts through learning approaches that best meet the needs of 21st-century learners, in order to provide suggestions on the selection of the tools and platforms that support effective online learning.
Key decision-makers were surveyed on their backgrounds, experiences, and current toolsets, and a smaller selection were interviewed about their personal opinions and experiences in both the challenges and success that institutions have had in addressing the needs of online learners. The findings ultimately point to the pivotal role that institutional governance plays in shaping the online learning environment.