A diverse group of stakeholders from The University of Arizona will discuss the establishment of a culture of collaborative innovation in support of student engagement, highlighting the unique role that administrators, faculty, designers and students all play in the creation of opportunities and processes that support inclusivity, interdisciplinarity and innovation.
In Fall 2015, The University of Arizona launched UA Online, a distinct, fully-online campus expanding statewide and national access to a UA degree. With the goal of increasing access to education amongst students, particularly those in underserved and underrepresented areas, faculty and staff quickly collaborated on innovative technologies and effective pedagogical approaches in order to design, develop and implement student-centered, experiential learning opportunities specifically tailored to the online environment. These cross-institutional collaborations have served as a critical key to the success of the new online campus, and offer insight into the importance of partnerships as catalyst for the acceleration of innovation.
In this panel discussion, a diverse group of stakeholders from across UA Online will discuss the establishment of a culture of collaborative innovation in support of student engagement. They will highlight the unique role that administrators, faculty, designers and students all play in the creation of opportunities and processes that support inclusivity, interdisciplinarity and innovation. This high-energy, interactive discussion will invite participants to explore the following questions relating to the redefining and support of student engagement in the online learning environment:
- What experiences can we provide students both within and beyond the online classroom to enrich their professional and personal growth?
- How can we effectively prepare students to actively engage in an online community of inquiry?
- How can we support our faculty in reimagining the online classroom as a constructivist, student-centered learning environment?
- What innovative approaches and emerging technology can we leverage to support our students and our faculty in accomplishing all of the aforementioned tasks?
In addition to posing questions to the members of the panel, participants will be encouraged to share their own challenges and successes in leveraging institutional collaborations as a means of fostering a culture of innovation and student engagement. Backchannelling will be encouraged using social media so as to support a lively discourse amongst participants, and keep the conversation alive past the session and conference end. Ultimately, participants in this panel will leave with new perspectives on the essential nature of cross-institutional collaboration and effective practices to implement at their home institutions.