Two ETRA graduate courses—Advanced Instruction Media Design and Instructional Technology Program Development—which were designed and developed by ETRA/IT faculty, recently received Exemplary Course distinction from Blackboard Inc.
Jason Rhode, Ph.D., Director of the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center at NIU, who incorporated great ideas to the existing elements of the courses when offered the job to teach them, was recognized with two 2016 Exemplary Course Awards.
The Blackboard Exemplary Course Program recognizes faculty and course designers from schools, colleges and universities around the world who develop exciting and innovative courses that represent the very best in technology and learning.
Selom Assignon, M.S.Ed., ETRA alumnus and doctoral student, was also among Blackboard’s 2016 Exemplary Course winners for his expertise in developing a course titled Web Development I. “This is because I’m being taught by the best of the best and the results speak for themselves,” he said about ETRA’s influence on his teaching and course design.
The Blackboard Exemplary Course Award highlights technologically rich, engaging, well designed, and pedagogically sound courses that showcase best practices for the user community. Submissions were judged by peers and by experts on the following components: course design; interaction and collaboration; assessment; and learner support.
“It’s truly an honor, both for me personally as well as for NIU’s Educational Technology, Research and Assessment (ETRA) faculty in the College of Education who I’ve worked so closely with, to receive the Exemplary Course Awards,” Jason Rhode, Ph.D., Director of the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center at NIU, said.
Rhode collaborated closely with ETRA/IT faculty in designing the award-winning online courses, applying the high quality instructional design principles and online teaching techniques outlined in the Blackboard Exemplary Course Rubric as well as the online course design framework that ETRA/IT faculty developed and model throughout their nationally-ranked online graduate Instructional Technology program.
“For the past five years, faculty and instructors have met bi-weekly to collaborate on course design and instructional strategies to ensure continuous quality and consistency of the online program,” said
Wei-Chen Hung, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the ETRA Department. “Our learner-centered Blackboard course template and delivery format, as well as the integrated online pedagogy are a result of their collective effort.”
Rhode’s ETRA online courses were submitted for external review by a panel of online instructional design experts through a rigorous multi-phased, double-blind peer-review process and were among only a few selected internationally during the 2015-2016 academic year to receive this prestigious acclaim.
“I’m proud to recognize educators who are constantly finding new, innovative ways to inspire their students to learn,” said Bill Ballhaus, Chairman, CEO and President of Blackboard. “We congratulate the winners of the Exemplary Course Award, and we look forward to continuing to partner with these and other talented educators to bring their unique visions to life.”
