Based on themes from the edited collection The Business of Innovating Online (Stylus, 2019), this panel session will offer the perspectives of online education leaders who have direct experience with creating and sustaining innovative online organizations at three different institutions of higher education.
In today’s changing higher education landscape, there is a critical need for concrete narratives of innovation success that can serve as a foundation for administrators and leaders who are in need of practical guidance as they scale and grow their online learning organizations. Through specific examples and practical suggestions from experienced industry leaders, this panel session will introduce audience members to concrete strategies for how to create a climate of creativity and innovation that can lead to more successful and scalable online programs and initiatives.
Each panelist is a contributor to The Business of Innovating Online, a recently released edited collection that provides online education administrators with a comprehensive overview of a range of online innovations, as well as concrete steps they can take to create a more innovative culture for their own online and distance education organization.
While creating a culture of innovation is a goal for many online learning administrators, the steps to doing this work are not always clear. This panel will offer specific examples of ways to scale and grow online learning organizations while staying true to a vision of innovation. Through stories of innovation success, the panelists will help to demystify the relationship between business, creativity and innovation by describing the logistics required to create an agile online education enterprise.
Possible topics to be discussed include:
- Defining innovation and creativity for online education and e-learning
- Establishing a vision for innovation
- Organizational structures that support innovation
- Knowing when and how to innovate
- Creating a culture of innovation
- Effectively leading innovation
- Collaborative innovation
- Making innovation stick and transitioning innovative strategies into day-to-day practice
- Assuring quality in the midst of innovation
- Staffing structures/administrative stability to support creativity and innovation