The Learning House, Inc. (www.learninghouse.com), an online education solutions partner that helps colleges and universities develop and grow high-quality online degree programs and courses, today announced it is offering a free instructional webinar to help institutions learn best practices in building and launching online summer courses. The webinar, “Building a Successful Online Summer Session,” will be held Wednesday, March 28, 2012, at noon EDT.
“Online summer courses not only allow students the flexibility to earn credits while still enjoying their summer, but the reduced costs and prospect of accelerated graduation can make these courses incredibly attractive, especially if they are difficult to get into during the school year,” said Dave Clinefelter, Chief Academic Officer at The Learning House, Inc. “By offering a summer session online, institutions not only keep students engaged, improving student retention rates, but students can take required courses they need for their degree or electives they are interested in without having to go to elsewhere and transfer credits.”
The webinar will feature panelists Sean Butcher, Director of Online Programs at Shorter University; Peter Gochis, Associate Academic Dean at Missouri Valley College; and Denise Peters, Director of eLearning at Highland Community College, who will share their experiences developing online summer sessions, as well as best practices and lessons learned. The presentation will discuss the benefits of making summer courses available online and offer strategic insights into what colleges and universities need to do to launch programs, from course selection and curriculum development to marketing.
During the webinar, participants will:
· Learn how to create a timeline and set due dates to get online summer sessions off the ground on schedule
· Discover how to choose the right courses to offer online
· Discuss ways to establish policies on who can take online courses, what incentives to offer faculty, etc.
· Identify what resources are needed to best support faculty and students
· Explore marketing best practices to promote online summer sessions and drive enrollments
The webinar is designed to provide actionable information for academic affairs and continuing education professionals, provosts, chancellors, deans and others who are interested in building successful online summer courses. For more information or to register for the free webinar, visit learninghouse.com.