The Office of Online Education, in collaboration with the Office of Collaborative Academic Programs and eLearning Design and Services, invites you to join us for the fourth annual statewide IU Online Education Conference on October 30, 2019 at the Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel at Keystone Crossing.
We hope to see you on October 30!
Online education continues to be a widely discussed and dynamic mode of education in the United States. However, online learning varies greatly based upon the institutional ties to the program and the students who are involved. As a multi-campus university, IU stays alert to existing policies and practices at other large public institutions. We are happy to welcome to this year’s conference a panel of experts from peer institutions. They will discuss various aspects of online education at their respective universities and their perspectives on the future of online education.
Panel members are Adam Fein, Robert Griffiths, and Mary Niemiec. They have led online education at multiple institutions, and are experienced with a variety of approaches to implementing online coursework. We hope you will join us for a discussion with these three innovative leaders.
Adam Fein has served as vice president for digital strategy and innovation at the University of North Texas (UNT) since November 2018. As the head of UNT’s online and digital strategies, he leads efforts to identify new directions and opportunities for improving the academic quality, reach, and performance of the university in the online and global education markets. His research focuses on the cognitive theory of multimedia learning and the effects of disruptive innovation theory in higher education.
Prior to joining UNT, Fein served for 17 years in numerous capacities in online and innovative education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was responsible for shaping campus strategy and providing campus-wide support for innovations in classroom and online settings. In his previous roles, he was responsible for overseeing instructional design, instructional development, instructional media resources, and online academic and student affairs teams.
Before working in higher education, Fein served as a training and development consultant at Pepsi/Gatorade, Inc. and the Quaker Oats Company. In addition, he has published book chapters and numerous professional papers.
Robert Griffiths is associate vice president for distance education in the Office of Distance Education and eLearning (ODEE) at The Ohio State University. He has led the university’s online education initiative since 2013. Griffiths has been passionate about the affordances and possibilities of technology-empowered learning opportunities since showing his family how to use the Apple IIc. Life-long learning drives many of his professional and personal interests, from formal education to coaching adaptive tennis.
Griffiths also guides other ODEE initiatives, including those related to state authorization, non-degree student support, and organizational culture. He is a team member for university-level projects related to the curricular redesign for general education, workforce development, and scaling teaching and learning support. Prior to his current role, Griffiths created the ODEE grants program and served as principal investigator in a study of how the use of technology can engage students, increase instructor efficiency, and support anytime/anyplace learning. He is the author or co-author of numerous book chapters and journal articles.
Mary Niemiec is the associate vice president for digital education and director of University of Nebraska Online. She coordinates the systemwide collaborative initiative that pulls together the 135-plus online programs offered by the four campuses of the NU system. She has worked in the areas of higher education online and blended learning for more than 20 years. She also represents the university within the state of Nebraska and holds leadership roles in various national professional organizations.
Niemiec currently serves as vice president for the Board of Directors of the Online Learning Consortium (OLC). She is also co-chair for the Nebraska Information Technology Commission’s Education Council and co-chair of the Policy Committee for UPCEA. She was named an OLC Fellow in 2011.
Thank you for making the third annual IU Online Education Conference such a success. We appreciate your commitment to supporting IU’s mission of delivering high-quality, highly engaging online courses and programs to IU students around the globe.
You can view and download presentation materials or watch videos of the opening and keynote sessions below.
2018 presentation materials