Research shows that online education, when designed and facilitated well, is as effective as traditional campus-based instruction. Despite the evidence, many faculty perceive online education as inferior to traditional instruction―and are often quite vocal in their skepticism. Simultaneously, however, more and more students are seeking online courses and degree programs.Thrive Online: A New Approach to Building Expertise and Confidence as an Online Educator is an invitation for the rising tide of online educators who are relatively new to teaching online, and also for those more experienced instructors who are increasingly frustrated by the dominant bias against online education.Readers will find:• An approach that empowers online educators to thrive professionally using a set of specific agentic behaviors• Strategies for approaching conversations about online learning in new ways that inform the skeptics and critics• Strategies that celebrate the additional skills and proficiencies developed by successful online educators• Guidance for educators who want to feel natural and fluent in the online learning environment• Guidance for enhancing the user-centered nature of online spaces to create student-centered learning environments• Encouragement for online educators to pursue leadership opportunitiesThe internet is changing how people communicate and learn. Thrive Online: A New Approach to Building Expertise and Confidence as an Online Educator offers guidance, inspiration and strategies required to adapt and lead higher education through this change. This book is for higher education instructors who are seeking community, a sense of belonging, and the professional respect they deserve. Thriving is not a reaction to our environment, but rather a state of being we can create intentionally for ourselves.The time has come to change the conversation about online education. Add your voice – join the community and #ThriveOnline.
Shannon Riggs has worked in a variety of higher education roles since 2001 and currently serves in an executive leadership position in the distance education division of a large, public, R1 land grant university. Riggs is active nationally in the field of online education and is known for her commitment to quality and passion for supporting faculty. Riggs regularly presents at conferences and has written for publication about online course development, faculty development, leadership, and innovation. She is currently serving a three-year elected position for the Quality Matters (QM) Instructional Design Association, a three-year elected position for the QM Academic Advisory Committee, and a three-year elected position on the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) Steering Committee.^
Kathryn E. Linder is an avid writer and researcher with a passion for process and peeking behind the scenes at what it takes to be a successful academic. Currently, she is the creator of the Radical Self-Trust Podcast Channel and a weekly interview-based podcast (Research in Action).
Katie is also the director of the Oregon State University Ecampus Research Unit and an associate editor for the International Journal for Academic Development. For the past several years, Katie’s work has focused on blended course design best practices, institutional supports for accessible online learning, and research literacy for scholarship of teaching and learning practitioners and distance education stakeholders. She speaks on topics related to writing and publication; creativity and productivity; self-promotion and personal branding, and teaching and learning with technology.
Currently, Katie is under contract for her fourth book Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers (co-authored with Kevin Kelly and Tom Tobin). She is also the editor of the Thrive Online series.
