eDesign Collaborative Blog

The eDesign Collaborative (eDC) Blog is a dedicated resource to announcements, updates, upcoming events, surveys, and other items for the eDC community. 

Announcing: 2019 eDC ThinkTank Roadshow

After successfully piloting virtual ThinkTanks in 2018 with Utah State University and Oregon State University, we’re happy to announce the 2019 eDC ThinkTank Roadshow schedule. We’ve tweaked things a bit and the 2019 eDC ThinkTanks will now be free and open to all members of UPCEA! Non-members will be charged a nominal registration fee.

We hope you are as excited about the 2019 schedule as we are and will share this information with your colleagues in instructional and multimedia design! Registration for these events will open soon, so watch your email for an announcement!

  • Friday, February 8th – Penn State University – Operationalizing Innovation
  • Friday, March 22nd – Arizona State University – Elevating Instructional Design
  • Friday, May 3rd – University of Wisconsin – Faculty Professional Development
  • Friday, July 19th – UC Irvine – Creating a New Design Team: Necessities, Successes, and Pitfalls
  • Friday, October 4th – Brigham Young University – Modified Agile Development & Workflow Processes

What is a ThinkTank: Most conferences have the format of bringing people away from universities to share what they are doing…however, much is lost without seeing things in context. Ours is a “Flipped Conference Model” where we bring people to universities and show them how things work in real time. We meet the whole team, tour, and then spend time in panel discussions and Q&A to learn more. So why attend? To have a behind the scenes look at a university and meet the whole team, network with those in your similar situation and workshop best practices to bring home.

  The eDesign Collaborative serves higher education instructional design teams (instructional designers, multimedia developers and team administrators) in higher education seeking networking and professional development.


Learn more about the UPCEA eDesign Collaborative here.


UPCEA Blogs and Updates:  

Don’t Tell My Mother…I Read a Fiction Book

My parents immigrated from China in the 1950s and 60s. They strongly encouraged my brothers and I to study engineering, computers, medicine or mathematics. Nothing else mattered. I chose math and my brothers chose computer science and electrical engineering. I went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in math and a master’s degree in statistics…

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The Commons: Three Steps for Energizing Quality Assurance in Online Course Design

Many institutional leaders recognize the need for a quality assurance program, yet faculty and staff buy-in to those plans can be elusive. Samford University recently took a collaborative approach to organizational change in its online and professional studies programs, ultimately creating an appetite for quality assurance by increasing awareness, generating buy-in, and empowering faculty through…

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Is Higher Education Going to the Dogs (and Cats)?

Usually one trend impacts another. If self-driving cars are taking over, then most likely artificial intelligence, data mining, radar technology, and lithium battery development are trending positively. Much of my research this past year focused on Generation Z or iGen (those approximately 16 to 22 years of age) and Millennials. These individuals, along with aging…

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Spring Cleaning: Three Tips for Redesigning Your Course

It’s that time again. Courses are showing up in dashboard, and faculty are beginning to think about what changes they plan to make in their course design. As we near the start of the semester I’d offer these three tips for instructors who look to clean up and streamline their courses. Consider What’s Essential – Fewer Resources A…

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A Simple “Observation” on Trend Watching and Intelligence Gathering

In a growth market, such as online education in the late 1990s and start of millennium, producing products and services is relatively easy or carries with it less risk, as growing market share is the goal rather than stealing share from competitors. Having good intelligence and market research was a luxury back then…to move more…

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UPCEA Congratulates Members Recognized in the 2019 U.S. News & World Report Ranking of Best Online Bachelor’s Programs

10 of top 11 ranked institutions are members of UPCEA WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 17, 2019) — UPCEA, the association for college and university leaders in professional, continuing, and online education, is pleased to congratulate the many UPCEA members recognized in the 2019 U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs rankings. U.S. News rankings include…

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