Best Practices in Online Program Development

Best Practices in Online Program Development is a practical, hands-on guide that provides the concrete strategies that academic and administrative departments within institutions of higher learning need to develop in order to create and maintain coherent and effective online educational programs. Unlike individual courses, an online education program requires a comprehensive, inter-departmental effort to be integrated into the ongoing educational project of a college or university. This book focuses on the:

• Integration of online education into the institutional mission
• Complex faculty-related issues including recruiting, training, and teaching
• Multifaceted support required for student retention and success
• Need for multilayered assessment at the course, program, technical, and institutional levels
• Challenges posed to governance and by the need to garner resources across the institution
• Model to insure ongoing, comprehensive development of online educational programs

Best Practices in Online Program Development covers the above topics and more, giving all the stakeholders in online educational programs the building blocks to foster successful programs while encouraging them to determine what role online education should play in their academic offerings.

Elliot King is a Professor and Chair of the Communication Department at Loyola University Maryland. He is the author or co-author of seven books and has written extensively about the application and impact of new computer and communication technology since the 1980s. He is a co-founder of Loyola’s Master of Arts program in Emerging Media, an online program.

Neil Alperstein is a Professor in the Communication Department at Loyola University Maryland. He is the Founding Director of its Master of Arts program in Emerging Media, an online program, and a leader in the use of educational technology in the classroom. He is the author of the book, Advertising in Everyday Life, and numerous book chapters and scores of scholarly articles.