DELTA provided assistance to the MBA Online program leading up to the initial launch and during the first two years of the program.
Challenges
Launching a Distance Education (DE) degree program has many challenges, so this is not intended to be an exhaustive list. There were a few challenges that DELTA helped to address:
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Students in a program want to have some connection among the courses they take.
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Program faculty and college administrators want to be confident that the online program gives students an equivalent educational experience to an onsite program.
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A program is a big effort involving a lot of faculty, and providing support for a group that large can be difficult for a department or college.
Solutions
DELTA worked with the MBA program for more than two years to try and address these challenges and more, both before launch and over the first two years of the program.
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DELTA instructional designers worked with program faculty to design a template that could be used in all courses. This template means that students get used to a single look and feel no matter which course they are taking. The template also includes examples of good practices for instructors to look at, copy or modify in their courses.
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DELTA instructional designers worked with program faculty to assist with common practices across the program. Some of these included a common day for each course “week” to begin and end, a set of common groups that could exist across courses, common online workspaces for the cross-program groups, and a program calendar with important dates that is available from every course.
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In working with college administrators, the program director and program faculty, DELTA provided professional assurance and research showing that a well-designed online program could provide equivalent results to onsite programs. DELTA also provided support over the first two years of the program as needed (e.g. for technology snags, student feedback with desired improvements, or new faculty in the program).
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DELTA instructional designers worked with instructors to design each course in the program.
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DELTA provided expert support and training in the use of lecture recording software and hardware.
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DELTA shot and produced welcome videos for each course in the program.
Most importantly, this program could not have been successful without the initiative and drive of the program director, program faculty and college administrators. DELTA’s support for the launch of this program is just that–support.
Links
For more information about DELTA services, please contact LearnTech.