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. 

Spring Cleaning: Three Tips for Redesigning Your Course

January 22, 2019

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…

Announcing: 2019 eDC ThinkTank Roadshow

October 30, 2018

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…

UPCEA eDesign Collaborative ThinkTank Roadshow: Oregon State University (Sept. 21)

September 4, 2018

Multimedia Dev In effort to widen the scope and learn more about several campus instructional design units, we will be engaging in virtual ThinkTanks. These will be two hour events where we get to know a new university team and have a working session together. Oregon State University Ecampus provides full service instructional design for…

Thought Piece: Resources for New (and Accidental) Instructional Designers

May 17, 2018

Introduction I am an accidental instructional designer. After finishing an MFA in Writing, I took a student employee position at another university as I worked on a second master’s degree, unsure of what to do next. I was an ELearning Content Developer, converting documents into full-fledged course sites. In the next few months, an amazing…

May eDesign Exchange: Mother Knows Best?

May 17, 2018

Date/Time: Thursday, May 24th from 2:30-3 p.m. ET Topic: Mother Knows Best? Sharing best resources for keeping on the pulse of latest ID trends and news Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/upceas-edesign-exchange-may-2018-tickets-45906623948 The eDesign Exchange is an ongoing series of informal, online meetups where members of the eDesign Collaborative can dialogue and brainstorm about a wide variety of relative topics,…

April eDesign Exchange: Fool’s Errand

April 24, 2018

It’s that time again! The eDesign Exchange is coming, and this month we have a guest facilitator. Ms. Kristlin Dalton of Loyola Chicago will be tag-teaming the discussion with us. Please come and meet her, and share ideas with our peers. Date: Thursday, April 26 Time: 2:30 – 3PM ET Title: Fool’s Errand Topic: Designing by Assumption What pitfalls are out…

February eDesign Exchange: Where’s the Love?

February 13, 2018

Date/Time: Thursday, February 22nd from 2:30-3 p.m. ET Topic: Where’s the Love? Love/hate relationships of design vs compliance Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/upceas-edesign-exchange-tickets-42542871875 The eDesign Exchange is an ongoing series of informal, online meetups where members of the eDesign Collaborative can dialogue and brainstorm about a wide variety of relative topics, build connections with other members of the community,…

January eDesign Exchange: What’s an eDC ThinkTank?

December 13, 2017

Date/Time: Thursday, January 25 from 2-2:30 p.m. ET Topic: What’s an eDC ThinkTank? Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/s/8187994674 In January, we will be talking about the idea behind an eDC ThinkTank. What they are, who attends and what we try to accomplish. Our next eDC ThinkTank is in February at Utah State University. We’d like to provide conversation around what…

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


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More Blogs + Updates from UPCEA

UPCEA’s Corporate Member Blog Series #1 | Follow the Budget: 5 Areas Where Higher Ed is Spending (and struggling) in 2026

The higher education landscape is arguably the toughest it has been in a generation, marked by economic instability, demographic decline, and the constant imperative for greater efficiency. The 2026 Landscape of Higher Education Report confirms this volatile reality: beginning in 2026, many institutions will face a sustained decline in traditional-aged undergraduates. Enrollment growth is now…

Workforce Pell Is Here and Data Readiness Is the Real Test for Credential Innovation

The expansion of Pell Grant eligibility to short-term, non-degree programs—commonly known as Workforce Pell—has become a defining moment for credential innovation. In a strategic conversation hosted by UPCEA in December 2025, higher education leaders made one thing clear: access to Workforce Pell is not primarily a policy challenge. It is a data challenge. As institutions…

Reduced-Credit Degrees: Leading with Learners While Preparing for Disruption

As questions about the value, cost, and structure of a traditional bachelor’s degree continue to intensify, higher education leaders are confronting a reality that has remained largely unchanged for decades: the 120-credit-hour degree is more a historical artifact than a learner-centered design choice. During a recent conversation with UPCEA Institutional Representatives, panelists and participants explored…

Pack Light, Go Far: Hiking the Enrollment Trail

There’s a moment from my college days I remember more clearly than any midterm I ever took. I had stepped away from my bachelor’s degree at Penn State because I wanted to live a little. I’d grown up in the same town that I went to college and I just needed an extended reprieve, something…

Preparing the Workforce for an AI-Driven Economy: An Online and Professional Continuing Education Imperative

Is your online and professional continuing education unit looking for ways to improve job-market outcomes for graduates and alumni? Are you exploring strategies that better align your program portfolio with the skills business and industry leaders say they need both for new hires and for upskilling current employees?  Recent employer data provides a clear signal that high-demand employees are ones with verified AI skills and practical experience. A 2025…

Workforce Pell Grants: Primer and Update from Negotiated Rulemaking | Policy Matters (December 2025)

Major Updates Workforce Pell Grants for Short-Term Programs: A Primer and Update from Negotiated Rulemaking: Consensus Reached – What’s in the Draft Regulations We’ve developed a blog that provides a primer and overview of the recent negotiated rulemaking work on Workforce Pell Grants for Short-Term Programs, focusing on the first week of sessions held by…