Last year Mary Purvis, Faculty Support Specialist, and Kathi Baldwin, Instructional Designer, created a course for all UAS Faculty called ED 593: Designing and Teaching an Online Course. They wanted the course to not only teach faculty about the things they need to know, but to also model the best practices that they know make a difference to student success. Among the creative approaches it uses are Alaskan fish, which serve as metaphors for the important parts of a successful online course that maximizes student learning and enjoyment.
The course was entered in the Blackboard Catalyst Awards program and Mary and Kathi were recently named winners of a Blackboard Catalyst Award for Exemplary Course Program, which honors members of the community who design and develop exciting and innovative courses that represent the very best in technology and learning.
Part of the annual Blackboard Catalyst Awards program since 2000, the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Award highlights technologically rich, engaging, well designed, and pedagogically sound courses that showcase best practices for the user community. Over 160 entries were evaluated in a rigorous peer-review process by more than 300 faculty and instructional designers. Submissions were judged on the following components: course design, interaction, collaboration, assessment and learner support.
The Blackboard Catalyst Awards program annually recognizes and honors innovation and excellence in the Blackboard global community of practice, where teachers and learners work every day to redefine what is possible when leveraging technology.
“Catalyst Award winners represent some of today’s finest examples of leveraging technology to improve the education experience,” said Ray Henderson, Chief Technology Officer and President of Academic Platforms at Blackboard. “Each winner has established best-in-field approaches in critical areas including online learning, course development, school communication and mobile education. We congratulate the winners on their vision and their excellent work, and we celebrate this accomplishment with them.”
Mary and Kathi, will be honored alongside other Blackboard Catalyst Award winners during BbWorld®, Blackboard’s annual user conference to be held in July in Las Vegas, Nev.
Blackboard is a global leader in enterprise technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of millions of students and learners around the world every day. Blackboard’s solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12, professional, corporate and government organizations to extend teaching and learning online.
For a complete list of Blackboard Catalyst Award winners please visit: http://blackboard.com/catalyst.
Image: ©iStockphoto.com/DNY59
