In a matter of weeks, COVID-19 has impacted every institution of higher education in the country, virtually all of which are finding themselves scrambling to migrate their instructional delivery to a digital and remote format in incredibly short order. Faculty must learn to use emerging technologies while also learning to teach, lead and guide their students online, and to do so more effectively than ever before. Universities must quickly develop the robust and intuitive digital presences that students now require. Everyone is trying to adjust to this new academic reality while preserving the sense of community that is so vital to the educational experience.
Everspring is using our decades of experience in the art and science of online education to help all universities struggling with the demands of this rapid shift through the full range of specific challenges they may encounter.
First, we are available for topic-specific consultations on issues such as strategic planning, change management and functional online platform support.
Second, to offer our assistance, we are kicking off a series of informational webinars hosted by leadership from our learning design team regarding best practices in online education. The first of these, taking place on Tuesday, March 31, at 12 p.m. CDT, is called “An Emergency Online Course Build Checklist” and will cover key tips and best practices for faculty who are new to the unique challenges of structuring course material in an online learning management system.
In subsequent weeks, webinars in this series will address:
- Strategies for keeping online course elements light and easy to manage
- The in’s and out’s of teaching with web conferencing tools
- Advice for maintaining communication and engagement in the online classroom
Third, in response to the challenges universities are facing in moving entire institutions online simultaneously with the quality and educational sophistication for which they are known, Everspring has opened up our platform for broader use. Specifically, we are making our Everspring CourseBuilder tool broadly available. This tool enables universities to rapidly deploy a set of pre-populated course templates that provide faculty with a flexible, high-quality, brand-consistent format to simplify the challenge of moving online and jump-start their ability to teach effectively in the online medium.
In addition, and as always, Everspring welcomes new partners who are interested in developing your online capabilities with our assistance. For departments and universities seeking such support, our solutions range from full-service, turnkey online program management support to platform-specific services such as marketing, enrollment, and/or instructional design or course development assistance (which itself can range from full-program to single-course support). We are more than happy to discuss the solutions we offer for your university’s needs both now and as your online presence grows and evolves in the future.