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…

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More Blogs + Updates from UPCEA

Microcredentials, Modularity, and Mission: Insights from UPCEA’s Coffee Chat on Innovation in Healthcare Education

In partnership with the HELIX Summit on Continuing Medical Education  How are institutions navigating the dynamic intersection of workforce demands, digital learning, and credentialing innovation—especially in healthcare? That’s exactly what we explored in a recent Coffee Chat, where UPCEA leaders from across the higher education landscape gathered for an unrecorded but powerfully candid conversation on…

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Leading with Values-Based Influence in Higher Education

Why Values-Based Influence Matters Now  Higher education is undergoing seismic shifts—demographic changes, budget constraints, AI disruption, and questions of relevance. In this environment, how we lead and why we lead matters as much as what we do as leaders. Leaders who operate from a strong internal compass—those grounded in values—offer clarity, stability, and hope.  Values-based…

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Accreditation + Skill-Based Learning Addressed in New Executive Orders | Policy Matters (April 2025)

Major Updates Accreditation, Foreign Support, Skill-Based Learning Addressed in New Trump Executive Orders The Trump administration has continued issuing an unprecedented number of executive orders with recent directives directly impacting colleges and universities, addressing topics like accreditation reform, foreign influence, skills-based learning (including alternative credentials), and support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Two…

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Online education booms in an era of lifelong learning (WorkingNation)

‘Strictly online institutions tend to serve working-age or older adults requiring flexible schedules constructed around family obligations and work. “Folks arrive at higher ed for a multitude of reasons,” says Julie Uranis, senior vice president of online and strategic initiatives for UPCEA (the Online and Professional Education Association), a resource for online university programs. “Online learning gives them…

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Your Lifelong Learning Journey’s “Breadcrumbs” – How to Tell Your Story

As avid backcountry hikers, years ago my family decided it would be prudent to buy a GPS, even though we had a rescue dog with an incredible sense of direction. While many out-and-back or even loop hikes didn’t require high-powered digital GPS coordinates to find our way back to our vehicle, we did appreciate launching…

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Key Findings from 2024 UPCEA Marketing Survey

As more and more institutions face internal and external pressures to identify and cultivate new revenue streams, many are turning to online and professional continuing education to attract new learners and address fiscal shortfalls. While this continued increase in supply undoubtedly benefits the student, it makes an already saturated market even more competitive. UPCEA’s 2024…

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