Academic Partnerships' Faculty eCommons Expands Professional Development Programming

Free Online Events Allow Faculty to Connect and Improve Online Education

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Jun 12, 2013, 11:13 ET

DALLAS, June 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Academic Partnerships (AP), one of the largest representatives of online learning in the United States and around the world, today announced that it has expanded the professional development programming available through Faculty eCommons, the social learning ecosystem developed for faculty around the world to work together and improve online education.

"Faculty eCommons is dedicated to helping faculty design and teach high-quality online courses that meet that needs of today's learners," said AP Vice President of Academic Services Whitney Kilgore. "It has been a tremendous resource for those involved in providing online instruction, and we are delighted to expand the professional development programs it provides to address issues of interest, including teaching with emerging technologies and designing innovative instruction for the online classroom."

Developed with quality in mind, Faculty eCommons' free professional development events provide faculty with guidance and practical tips that can be applied to online courses to create effective and memorable learning experiences for students.

Regular events include "Ed Tech Du Jour," an ongoing web series hosted by online learning authorities and AP Academic Services Directors Dr. Heather Farmakis and Dr. Melissa Kaulbach. The series focuses on effective online teaching practices and techniques designed to promote academic honesty, build community, and increase student engagement.

Faculty eCommons also offers "Learn with Michelle," an ongoing series of webinars and Google+ Hangouts hosted by Michelle Pacansky-Brock, AP academic services director and author of Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies. As part of the series, Ms. Pacansky-Brock facilitates informal conversations with representatives of institutions that have successfully implemented effective practices to solve eLearning challenges, such as integrating Web 2.0 tools and establishing faculty development models.

In addition, Faculty eCommons is offering four-week professional development massive open online courses. These "Micro-MOOCs" focus on developing skills that faculty can apply to designing and teaching online courses. Each "Micro-MOOC" offers webinars hosted by field experts and online resources around which course conversations and learning occur. Past courses have focused on how to incorporate Open Education Resources into the curriculum and instructional design for mobile learning.

All resources provided by Faculty eCommons are available free of charge.

To learn more about these offerings or view a calendar of upcoming professional development events, visit www.facultyecommons.org/events/.

About Academic Partnerships
Academic Partnerships (AP) helps universities convert their traditional degree programs into an online format, recruits qualified students, and supports enrolled students through graduation. Serving more than 40 public universities in the United States and numerous top foreign institutions, AP is guided by the principle that the opportunities presented through distance learning make higher education more accessible and achievable for students in the U.S. and around the world. The company was founded by social entrepreneur Randy Best, an 18-year veteran of developing innovative learning solutions to improve education. For more information, please visit www.academicpartnerships.com.

About Faculty eCommons
Developed by Academic Partnerships, Faculty eCommons is a social learning ecosystem for faculty across the globe to work together and better online education. The site offers industry research, guidance, best practices, and professional development, with a focus on national quality standards. Academic Partnerships has a strategic alliance with Sloan Consortium and a subscription to the Quality Matters™ program, which are available to AP Partner faculty. For more information, please visit www.facultyecommons.com.

Contact:

For Academic Partnerships
Jaquelyn M. Scharnick
[email protected]

SOURCE Academic Partnerships