Cengage Collaborates with Online Learning Consortium (OLC) to Support Institutions Moving to Online and Hybrid Learning

Instructors and Administrators Rank Help for Teaching Online Among Their Greatest Needs Due to COVID-19

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Aug 18, 2020, 09:05 ET

BOSTON, Aug. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cengage today announced a partnership with the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) to offer professional development opportunities for faculty and administrators — via bootcamps, office hours and customized trainings — to support colleges and universities with online and blended learning. Cengage is also continuing its series of free webinars to augment its expansive professional development resources for higher education professionals.

OLC is a collaborative community of education leaders and innovators, dedicated to advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences. OLC and Cengage collaborated on a survey about higher education's pivot to online learning this spring, and will explore additional research opportunities in the future.

"Making the switch from an in-person to a quality online learning experience takes time and training. Yet this past spring, COVID forced institutions to move classes online, virtually overnight, putting tremendous pressure on faculty to figure out, for the first time – and with limited time or resources – how to create a great online experience," said Fernando Bleichmar, EVP and general manager of Higher Education and Skills, Cengage.

"According to research we did with Bay View Analytics, OLC and others, faculty and administrators say they need help teaching online and help with remote learning platforms. The professional development resources created with OLC, coupled with Cengage solutions and services, give faculty the tools and knowhow to create an engaging online course, while helping institutions provide an affordable, quality learning experience for the fall and beyond," continued Bleichmar.

Starting this month, the Cengage-OLC collaboration will offer the following resources:

Administrator-focused live workshops, trainings and resources on the topics of:

Strategies to Improve Retention
Strategies for Supporting Online Faculty
Integrating Digital Strategy into Institutional strategy
Managing Faculty Workload
Strategies for Evaluating Online Faculty

Free, self-paced faculty bootcamp trainings on the topics of:

Online Teaching Pedagogy & Best Practices
Universal Learning Design
Using Educational Technology
Student Motivation and Engagement
Health and Wellness for Self and Students

Weekly office hours with OLC and Cengage faculty partners
Access to Cengage faculty partners who are trained and certified by OLC in effective online teaching

"Not surprisingly, we've had an influx of urgent requests for remote and online learning support and our collaboration with Cengage further enables us to provide educators with the tools they need to succeed," said Dr. Jennifer Mathes, CEO of the Online Learning Consortium. "From supporting educators to senior leadership, we have a proven framework for quality online experiences and unmatched network of educators ready to help our peers turn challenges presented by the pandemic into opportunities to expand and enhance learning for all."

Cengage has continued its series of free national webinars about emerging course models and remote teaching best practices with faculty partners and leaders in online learning. Thousands of educators have joined the webinars this summer and recordings are available below:

Cengage is also regularly adding content and resources from faculty partners and online learning leaders to Today's Learner.

For more information on professional development support visit www.cengage.com/covid-19-support/faculty/professional-development/. For more information about scalable institutional support visit www.cengage.com/institutional/scalable-learning/.

About Cengage
Cengage is the education and technology company built for learners. As the largest US-based provider of teaching and learning materials for higher education, we offer valuable options at affordable price points. Our industry-leading initiatives include Cengage Unlimited, the first-of-its-kind all-access digital subscription service. We embrace innovation to create learning experiences that build confidence and momentum toward the future students want. Headquartered in Boston, Cengage also serves K-12, library and workforce training markets around the world. Visit us at www.cengage.com or find us on Facebook or Twitter.

About Online Learning Consortium
The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) is a collaborative community of education leaders and innovators, dedicated to advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences designed to reach and engage the modern learner – anyone, anywhere, anytime. OLC inspires innovation and quality through an extensive set of resources, including, best-practice publications, quality benchmarking, leading-edge instruction, community-driven conferences, practitioner-based and empirical research and expert guidance. The growing OLC community includes faculty members, administrators, trainers, instructional designers, and other learning professionals, as well as educational institutions, professional societies and corporate enterprises. Visit http://onlinelearningconsortium.org for more information.

Media Contact:
Kristina Massari, Cengage
203-965-8694, [email protected]

SOURCE Cengage