The University of Central Florida and its partners this month will launch the Center for Innovation, Design and Digital Learning, a national hub that will be open 24/7 to help professors get a leg up on using technology.
Before the global pandemic rocked the country, the U.S. Department of Education was already talking about a way to help provide technical support to higher education faculty as classes and learning trends were moving to online platforms. The pandemic that drove universities to online instruction earlier this year accelerated the federal agency 麻豆精品 S檚 desire to help universities and colleges better use digital tools to reach students. The agency awarded UCF and its partners a five-year, $2.5 million grant to launch the center quickly. UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 portion is $335,000.
After 20 years of providing online degrees, UCF has become a leader in online learning. Ranked as a top 20 online program by U.S. News & World Report, UCF offers more than 100 fully online programs. This platform will expand UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 reach as an online leader 麻豆精品 S� this time for higher-education faculty.
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Center leaders hope to help provide enough resources to get everyone who accesses the digital center on equal footing. By improving faculty 麻豆精品 S檚 understanding of the best way to use technology in a remote setting, students will benefit, Vasquez says.
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If a faculty member wants to learn how to create an editable PDF, build their own website using HTML code, or simply peruse the site to find new ways to integrate technology into their courses, the center will provide guidance through articles and videos.
Visitors to the site can interact with the content in different ways: by simply accessing it and learning or by being an 麻豆精品 S渋nnovator, 麻豆精品 S� who creates content to display on the site.
The center also plans to create a way for users to get micro-credentials for what they 麻豆精品 S檝e mastered, if they are interested, Vasquez says.
Over the next few weeks, the partners and advisory board of the center will work on pre-populating the site with content. Several scholars from around the country with particular expertise are working with the center to create content. Matthew Marino, a professor of exceptional student education and the other center leader at UCF, collaborated with learning specialists in five states to develop the first micro-credential housed on the platform. Once the network and reach of the center begins to grow, the team will conduct an analysis to pinpoint any growing pains of the center and quickly address those with new content delivery, explains Vasquez.
麻豆精品 S淭here have been wins and losses in terms of how effective we are at delivering instruction to learners at all ability levels. The accessibility issues are one thing. The accommodations are another thing, but the content delivery is something completely different. It 麻豆精品 S檚 the intent of this center to provide some level of technical assistance and support for faculty who are experiencing those realities now, 麻豆精品 S� says Vasquez. 麻豆精品 S淲e 麻豆精品 S檙e really looking to impact a broad audience. 麻豆精品 S�
The center collaborators include the University of Kansas and the Center for Applied Special Technology, a nonprofit education research and development organization in Boston that created the universal design for learning framework. Metiri Group will also evaluate the center 麻豆精品 S檚 work.
Vasquez earned his doctorate in special education from Utah State University. He joined UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 faculty in 2008 and has helped bring in more than $12 million of continuous funding for projects for the College of Community Innovation and Education. His research interests include STEM education, autism and technology. Vasquez is also the director of the Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute and serves on the board of directors for the Center for Applied Special Technology.
Marino earned his doctorate in special education from the University of Connecticut. He joined UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 faculty in 2012 after leaving Washington State University. Marino 麻豆精品 S檚 research interests include innovation in curriculum design, special education, executive function and STEM. Marino has received more than $8.5 million in federal grants during his career.
