New administrative unit in Smeal to focus on instructional design, innovation

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State Smeal College of Business has created a new administrative unit dedicated to instructional design. Led by Charles H. Whiteman, John and Becky Surma Dean of Smeal, the eLearning Design and Innovation Group (eLDIG) will be charged with assisting faculty with the design of new online courses as well as converting existing course content to an online format.

“This dedicated group will help ensure successful development of pedagogy and course content for both online and resident courses,” said Whiteman. “The college’s strategic plan for 2014-2019 emphasizes working to meet the growing demand for online and hybrid courses, and eLDIG will play an important role in helping us meet that priority.”

However, the group is not just limited to work on online and hybrid courses; in-class instruction will be provided with design support as well.

Some of the projects on which eLDIG will focus include enhancements to the Master of Professional Studies in Supply Chain Management program, the development of graduate-level business courses for online formats and an undergraduate business certificate designed to provide a Smeal credential to students in other colleges.

Mark DeLuca serves as interim director of the group, which currently consists of instructional designers Kitt Camplese, Renee Ford and I-Pang Fu and instructional production specialists Grace Chang and Apryl Hawn.