A new online learning innovation hub that aims to spur the development and use of online and blended learning approaches has come to the ISU campus.

The innovation hub was established by the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.

“The online learning innovation hub will provide institutional leadership and support for faculty who are interested in implementing blended and fully-online learning approaches into their courses,” said Ann Marie Vanderzanden, director for the center.

Vanderzanden said that the hub will focus on four main themes: quality, innovation, collaboration and support.

“[The center’s] staff will work closely with faculty in developing appropriate teaching approaches and integrating effective technologies to help students achieve course learning goals,” she said.

Each goal has specific focuses the faculty want to meet.

Ralph Napolitano, associate director for online education for the center, said that the new innovation hub will lead to many different developments.

“The [online learning innovation hub] will serve as a collaborative center for various types of innovative development projects and faculty support activities. Several such initiatives are already in progress,” Napolitano said.

Napolitano went on to name a few projects that have already started on campus.

One of them includes partnering with the Quality Matters program, a “nationally recognized, faculty-centered, peer review process designed to certify the quality of online course design and online components,” according to its website.

“We have started an Excellence in Online Learning initiative, engaging the Quality Matters organization to establish quality benchmarks, rubrics, training programs and course certification protocols,” Napolitano said.

They have also initiated the “Blended Learning Booster,” a program aimed at supporting faculty in integrating appropriate technology into their existing courses to enhance learning, Napolitano said.

New resources for online learning discussion have been initiated as well.

“We have launched the Blended Learning Roundtable discussion group, where we bring campus leaders together to share experiences and discuss best practices in online learning,” Napolitano said. “We have developed instructional programs to support faculty in the use of technology, online tools and related pedagogy.”

Napolitano also said they have sponsored and supported online and blended course development grants, as well as partnering with Parks Library to “provide information services and instructional design support with dedicated e-Learning lab spaces to work with faculty.”

Vanderzanden believes that the advancement of online courses can be very beneficial to ISU students.

“When carefully designed, online learning tools can provide an educational experience that is rich, rewarding, even highly personalized,” Vanderzanden said. “In addition, online courses can be delivered at a distance or on campus with great schedule flexibility, augmenting our ability to serve students with a broader scope of academic programming and more timely delivery.”

Vanderzanden said she believes “the clear value provided through quality, [outreach] and service is indicated by the growth in online course enrollment over the past few years at Iowa State.”

Napolitano said that the innovation hub on Iowa State’s campus will be different from most other hubs.

“While many universities have centers dedicated to excellence in teaching, the ISU online learning innovation hub will be a model for collaborative innovation, expanding the scope of [the center] and teaming faculty with instructional design specialists across the institution and beyond in creative development efforts aimed at the enhancement of learning at Iowa State,” Napolitano said.

Napolitano also said the new innovation hub is validation that Iowa State is moving forward in the technological age.

“The establishment of the online learning innovation hub is the result of a proactive and purposeful approach to the comprehensive learning ecosystem at Iowa State University and a clear commitment to providing a rich, academic experience to all of our students,” Napolitano said. “Indeed, we all live and learn in the online environment every day.”