UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The University’s official Web presence for online teaching and learning resources and information — Web Learning @ Penn State — has undergone a total restructuring and is being re-released to assist faculty, staff and administrators interested in online education. The website is the home of the Penn State Online initiative and represents the primary online delivery mechanisms of the University, including the World Campus, the e-Learning at Penn State Cooperative and Web courses offered at individual campuses.
“Web Learning @ Penn State is the go-to place for resources and information about online teaching and learning,” said Ann H. Taylor, director of the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. “This has been a grassroots effort to overhaul, restructure and update information. We wanted to make it a living, breathing site that can continually improve, with input from the University community.”
Taylor and Carol McQuiggan, instructional designer, Faculty Center, Penn State Harrisburg, and Tinamarie Illar, communications specialist in Outreach and Online Education, volunteered to lead this initiative. They worked under the auspices of the Penn State Online Coordinating Council and its Faculty/Staff Engagement and Professional Development Committee, and also sought feedback from the University community. Penn State Outreach and Online Education is the lead sponsor of the website.
Highlights of the Web Learning @ Penn State site include:
-- A comprehensive list of professional development and course support resources
-- A video of faculty sharing their online teaching experiences
-- A revamped Faculty Self-Assessment for Online Teaching
-- Information about the University’s massive open online course (MOOC) initiative
-- World Campus information and resources
-- Online teaching and learning policy and governance information
-- Communication tools
“Our goal in revamping the website was to have the site be easy to use and speak to all faculty and staff involved in online teaching and learning,” added Taylor. “The site will undoubtedly continue to grow and evolve as we get feedback from those who use it.”
Learn more about the University’s online teaching and learning resources at https://weblearning.psu.edu/.