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Generative AI in the Curriculum: A Call for Coordinated Integration

Post author By Lindsey Downs
Post date June 12, 2025

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in our personal and professional lives, higher education must take a strategic, coordinated approach to help students develop essential AI literacies. In this timely post, Gloria Niles, WCET Steering Committee Vice Chair, and the Director of Online Learning with the University of Hawai’i System, reflects on the 2025 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report and offers practical strategies for integrating AI into institutional, programmatic, and course-level learning outcomes. For more resources and insights on this important topic, visit WCET’s Artificial Intelligence resource page. Thank you to Gloria for this excellent article!

Enjoy the read,
Lindsey Downs, WCET

 The 2025 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report (Teaching and Learning Edition) offers valuable insights into the key technologies and practices shaping the future of higher education. The rise of generative AI tools is transformative, potentially revolutionizing teaching and learning. Reflecting on the report’s findings, one thing is clear: higher education institutions must adopt a coordinated, strategic approach to integrate AI literacies into the curriculum.

Two students are sitting outside, one is pointing to a laptop screen in a helpful manner.

The report emphasizes that AI will continue to evolve and integrate into nearly every profession rapidly. Three of the six key technologies and practices highlighted in the report center on AI:

  • AI Tools for Teaching and Learning
  • Faculty Development for Generative AI
  • AI Governance

This makes it imperative for faculty to develop their AI fluency and teach students how to use these tools responsibly and ethically. Neglecting this could lead to graduates who are ill-prepared for the AI-integrated workforce.

Addressing AI Literacies Through Learning Outcomes

One effective way to ensure students develop essential AI skills and knowledge is to address AI literacies through clearly defined learning outcomes at the institutional, program, and course levels.

  • Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs): These high-level outcomes define the knowledge, skills, and values that all graduates should possess, regardless of their specific program of study.
  • Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs): These outcomes specify what students should know and be able to do upon completing a degree program.
  • Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs): outline the specific knowledge and skills students are expected to acquire in a given course.

By mapping AI literacies into this curricular structure, institutions can ensure that students systematically develop the necessary competencies throughout their academic journey.

In their work on Dimensions of AI Literacies, Opened Culture offers a helpful framework that can inform the development of these learning outcomes. They identify several key areas of AI literacies, including:

  • Cultural AI Literacies
  • Cognitive AI Literacies
  • Constructive AI Literacies
  • Communicative AI Literacies

Institutions can draw upon these dimensions to create learning outcomes that are comprehensive and relevant.

Examples of Learning Outcomes

With assistance from ChatGPT 4o and Gemini Advanced, here are some examples of how these AI literacy dimensions could be incorporated into ILOs, PLOs, and CLOs:

Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

  • Cultural AI Literacies
    Graduates will analyze and evaluate the social and cultural contexts in which AI tools are developed and applied to address complex problems within their field of study.
  • Cognitive AI Literacies
    Graduates will critically engage with AI environments to acquire knowledge, assess information accuracy, and identify the strengths and limitations of AI tools in academic and professional contexts.
  • Constructive AI Literacies
    Graduates will ethically create, remix, and generate content using AI tools, demonstrating responsible use and proper attribution in alignment with academic and professional standards.
  • Communicative AI Literacies
    Graduates will use AI technologies to enhance communication, adapting messages for diverse audiences while acknowledging the sociocultural influences AI may reinforce or obscure.

Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

  • Example – Business Program
    • Graduates will apply AI tools to analyze market trends, optimize business operations, and inform data-driven decision-making.
    • Graduates will evaluate AI’s ethical and legal implications in marketing, finance, human resources, and customer analytics.
    • Graduates will develop strategic communication plans incorporating AI-driven insights to engage stakeholders and consumers.
  • Example – Communication Program
    • Graduates will analyze the role of AI in shaping media narratives, public opinion, and information dissemination across platforms.
    • Graduates will ethically use AI-powered tools (e.g., chatbots, content generators, analytics platforms) to produce and evaluate multimedia communication.
    • Graduates will demonstrate fluency in adapting messaging strategies in response to AI-driven audience insights and media environments.
  • Example – Health Sciences
    • Graduates will apply AI tools to support evidence-based clinical decision-making, patient education, and healthcare delivery.
    • Graduates will critically evaluate AI’s implications for health equity, data privacy, and algorithmic bias in patient care.
    • Graduates will communicate AI-generated health data clearly and compassionately to diverse patient populations and interdisciplinary teams.

Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)

  • Conceptual knowledge of AI
    • Students will define and explain core concepts in artificial intelligence, including machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision.
  • Ethical analysis of AI
    • Students will analyze the ethical implications of AI technologies, including algorithmic bias, privacy, transparency, and accountability.
  • Societal Impact of AI
    • Students will use evidence-based analysis to evaluate AI’s impact on key sectors of society, such as healthcare, education, and the economy.
  • Communication about AI
    • Students will communicate clearly and effectively about AI concepts and issues to various audiences through written, oral, and visual formats.
  • Ethical use of AI tools
    • Students will apply AI tools ethically and responsibly to support original work in course assignments and projects, with appropriate attribution. 

The Importance of a Coordinated Approach

Five college-aged students sitting at laptop/tablet devices

There are differing views on how institutions should integrate AI literacies. Some argue for a top-down approach, starting with the development of ILOs, which would then inform PLOs and CLOs. While time-consuming due to the shared governance process, this process ensures a coordinated and cohesive approach. This also facilitates the development of learning activities and assessments that effectively support the identified outcomes.

Others suggest that faculty should be encouraged to integrate AI into course assignments without waiting for a coordinated mapping of ILOs, PLOs, and CLOs. While this approach may seem more expedient, it could lead to a fragmented and siloed approach to AI literacy education. Teaching AI literacies may lack consistency, depth, and coherence without a clear connection to broader institutional and program goals.

Striking a Balance

In my view, a balanced approach is needed. While developing ILOs, PLOs, and CLOs provides a crucial framework for integrating AI literacies, faculty should also be empowered to experiment with AI tools in their courses. Institutions could provide faculty with resources and support to help them integrate AI into their teaching while aligning their efforts with broader institutional goals.

Ultimately, the goal is to equip students with the AI skills and knowledge they need to thrive in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. By adopting a coordinated and strategic approach, higher education institutions can ensure that graduates are proficient in their chosen fields and adept at navigating artificial intelligence’s ethical, social, and technological dimensions.

This post was written by Gloria Niles.

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Staying the Course: Putting Students at the Center

Post author By Lindsey Downs
Post date June 5, 2025
Image of a canyon with a river running through it. Photo is from Van's trip to Zion National Park.

Back before the pandemic, I embarked on a western U.S. camping trip I lovingly referred to as my “midlife crisis trip.” One of the few national parks I got to visit before the pandemic forced me back home was Zion National Park in southwestern Utah. If you’ve spent any time at Zion, you are likely familiar with The Narrows, a spectacular hike into a slot canyon via hiking down the middle of the Virgin River. It’s not a steep hike or even that long of a hike, but the fact that you are actually hiking in the river and contending with currents, ice melt in the spring, and the inability to see where your feet are going can make it challenging.

A more narrow view of the canyon in Zion National Park

That particular March day, I was doing a good job of being present and paying attention until I let my mind briefly wander. And that’s when it happened; I stepped in a hole and had ice-cold water swamp my waders, drenching me in snow melt from the chest down.

It was a long, miserable hike back to my car and dry clothes, all because I lost my focus for a brief moment. I’m not sure I have ever been more miserable during a hike than I was that day. The moral of the story for me: don’t lose sight of what you really need to focus on.

Why do I share this anecdote? I think we are on our own metaphorical hike in a cold river rife with unseen and seen obstacles right now. It seems like we are faced with daily challenges to the work that we are doing, buffeted about by a public that questions the value of higher education and expresses skepticism about the importance of our work. And just like my lapse in attention resulted in a cold, miserable hike back, losing sight of our purpose, to provide our learners with access to high-quality educational opportunities and a better life, can make for difficult days.

This month, June 2025, we will be focusing on the importance of placing students at the center of the work that we do. It’s all too easy sometimes to lose sight of the impact of our work, especially if we are no longer teaching and not regularly in contact with students. But the reality is that the majority of our learners, 53.2% in 2023, are enrolled in at least one distance education course.

That translates into more than ten million learners. And many of those learners are post-traditional students. EDUCAUSE’s 2025 Students and Technology report found that adult learners between 25 and 64 tended to prefer online learning over face-to-face. Why are these folks attracted to online learning? Risepoint’s 2024 Voice of the Online Learner found that:

Several college-aged students using laptops
  • 67% of the online learners surveyed chose online in order to better balance taking classes with work and/or personal obligations,
  • 67% wanted the flexibility of taking classes from wherever they wanted, and
  • 60% wanted the flexibility of taking classes whenever they wanted.

In short, online learning provides these learners with flexibility and opportunity that they might otherwise not have.

What all of that means is that you are making a profound difference in the lives of students and their families, providing educational opportunities that can impact families for generations. We know that it’s easy to be overwhelmed right now, to feel isolated in the work that you are doing. But the work that you are doing to expand opportunity matters. You matter. And now more than ever, we need to lean into community.

At WCET, we care deeply about community. Whether it’s our monthly webinars, Closer Conversations, our MIX community, or our annual meeting, we prioritize creating community and a place where online learning professionals can come together, learn from each other, and support one another. WCET is a place where you can tap into the knowledge and support of thousands of colleagues at hundreds of institutions.

So, we hope that you can join us this month as we focus on centering students in our collective work and remind ourselves why we are engaged in this work. And from WCET, thank you for what you do. Thank you for the lives you are changing. You may not always get to hear that directly from our learners, but what you are doing matters. And if there is ever anything I or the WCET staff can do to help, please let us know.

This post was written by Van Davis, WCET

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What Would Xena Do? ASWE Knows the Answer

Post author By Lindsey Downs
Post date May 29, 2025
group of professional women speaking at a panel setup session
Logo: ASWE. Annual Summit for Women in eLearning.

At WCET, we know that leading in digital learning takes strength, strategy, and sometimes even a warrior’s mindset. That’s why we’re thrilled to share this post about the Annual Summit for Women in eLearning (ASWE). ASWE, held in conjunction with WCET 2025, is a post-conference-conference and a growing community dedicated to lifting women up in every corner of our field.

In this post, ASWE champion Darcy Hardy reflects on the origins of this event and delves into how it has grown from its early days as IFWE into the experience it is today. With a nod to the spirit of Xena, Warrior Princess, she reminds us that leadership isn’t just about knowledge and expertise…it’s also about showing up for each other.

We hope you will join us in Denver this fall – let’s call this post our rallying call! Read on to learn how this year’s summit will remind us all of the strength we carry – as we lead, as we learn, and as we live.

Enjoy the read,
Lindsey Downs, WCET

In 2002/2003, I had the honor and privilege of serving as President of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA). During my tenure, a few women on the Board of Directors joined me in suggesting USDLA create and host a new conference – the International Forum for Women in E-Learning (IFWE).

We wanted it to be a way to bring eLearning leaders and up-and-coming leaders together to share experiences and best practices while providing an outlet for mentoring and networking. We also wanted an event that would attract eLearning practitioners from all walks of life: Higher Ed, K-12, Corporate, Government, TeleHealth, etc. Course design, marketing, management, multimedia, instructional designers, technologists, faculty, and administrators.

IFWE -> ASWE

three professional women working on laptops

The first IFWE was held in 2004, and it went on to be hosted every other year until the pandemic. In 2021, IFWE found a new home with WCET and was re-imagined as the Annual Summit for Women in eLearning (ASWE), continuing its legacy but with a fresh identity and purpose. The full ASWE conference is held in odd-numbered years and is tied to the WCET Annual Meeting. During even-numbered years, WCET hosts a reception for ASWE/IFWE alums to reunite with previous attendees.

ASWE differs from other women-focused, national conferences. Per our motto and recognizing the role of women leaders in digital learning, the ASWE community connects, learns and supports others in digital learning: As We lead, As We learn, As We lean, AS WE live.

Each ASWE Summit includes a curated set of sessions, panels, and workshops that address substantive issues in the digital learning space. In addition, ASWE includes sessions that inspire us to be healthy and productive leaders, with topics such as how to find our voice at the table, ways to balance work and life responsibilities, and tactics for a healthier and less stressful life. The ASWE planners intentionally balance affective and tactical presentations, ensuring that attendees leave with practical strategies and person inspiration. This allows for a truly holistic experience.

Bringing our Vision to Life – a Truly Supportive Community

One of IFWE’s original goals was to provide an environment for mentoring up-and-coming women leaders in the field. We were and are still fortunate to have access to women in leadership roles who could participate in the conference and build relationships with attendees. So much has changed since 2003, yet so much is the same. Women still face obstacles (some self-inflicted) in their road to leadership, and too many, especially younger women, are unsure where to find support (and trust).

ASWE is a safe place to share stories and experiences and know you will have an attentive and supportive audience. One of my favorite examples of this was in 2021 in New Orleans. One of the attendees was preparing to present her dissertation proposal shortly after the conference. Without knowing other attendees, she casually asked around to see if a few would allow her to practice her presentation with them. Next thing you know, I entered a room and found six women actively listening to her presentation and providing feedback. To me, this demonstrates the networking and friendship ASWE provides.

Four professionally dressed women speaking in a panel session format

Importantly: ASWE is fun! In addition to the engaging sessions, we enjoy the ASWE Book Club discussions and morning activities such as yoga, running/walking, and meditation. The networking spills into group dinners and our ASWE After Hours, an optional evening of fun times, contests, and movies.

In 2008, Ellen Wagner was the IFWE keynote speaker. She used the fictional character of Xena, Warrior Princess, to make a series of points in her speech that sometimes leadership required a metaphorical warrior’s mindset. She provided the attendees with a “checklist” for staying strong and focused when facing uncertain conditions.

For those unfamiliar with Xena, she was known for fighting evil and defending the defenseless. Her stories elevated how we can care about others and empathize with their situations. Throughout Ellen’s presentation, the audience was asked, “What would Xena do?” in response to various professional scenarios described. 

Xena was a true warrior who fought for the greater good. Leaders in digital learning are a lot like Xena. We are bold, resilient, and guided by purpose. Asking ourselves, “What would Xena do?” is a great way to reflect on how we lead and connect with others. This spirit captures the essence of ASWE perfectly.

At ASWE Rise 2025, we’re bringing together women from across digital learning to celebrate leadership, spark bold ideas, and build lasting connections. This will be our space to connect, grow, and be inspired. ASWE isn’t just a conference! It’s a community. It’s a time to reflect on your journey and celebrate the impact women are making across digital learning.

Join us in Denver this October! We can’t wait to rise together!

This post was written by Darcy Hardy.

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Making Accessibility the Assignment: What First-Year Writing Students Taught Me About Inclusive Pedagogy

Post author By Lindsey Downs
Post date May 15, 2025

What happens when we stop seeing accessibility as just a checkbox and start seeing it as a part of good communication practices? Or a core teaching practice? In this week’s post, Stacia Moroski-Rigney from Michigan State University shares how a seemingly simple first-year-writing class assignment that included required captions turned into something much more—an opportunity for students to reflect, connect, and rethink how to create and share content. It’s a great reminder that when we build accessibility into our everyday practices, we’re not just checking a box—we’re building habits of empathy and inclusion that can stick with students long after the semester ends.

Enjoy the read,
Lindsey Downs, WCET

Textbox: accessibility isn’t a checkbox. It’s a mindset.

In fall 2019, when I asked my first-year writing (FYW) students to caption their own videos, I didn’t anticipate the transformation it would spark. What began as a simple technical task quickly became a powerful lesson in empathy, ethics, and inclusive communication. In this post, I share what my students taught me about accessibility—not just as a requirement, but as a vital practice of thoughtful pedagogy.

Captioning the Classroom

Although now many tools automatically caption, in fall 2019, that was not the case. For the fourth project in the class, I asked students to (1) caption videos they created earlier in the semester using tools from YouTube or from MSU’s contracted media systems and (2) write a reflective essay on the process and their experiences with accessibility features. It sounds simple, but for many students, it was their first encounter with the practical realities of making media accessible.

In classes leading up to the due date, students expressed surprise that auto-caption systems don’t always (usually?) get it right. Others wrestled with syncing timing or formatting dialogue, creating a script instead. Nearly all of them came to the same realization: it’s easy skip this step—to overlook the people who might not be able to hear or see your work. But when you make something accessible, you begin to see how many members of your audience can be left out of crucial information.

Accessibility as Rhetorical Awareness

A graphic illustrating the idea of web design with added accessibility features.

The second part of the assignment—a three-page reflective essay—asked students to think about the “why.” Why caption? Why format their reflections for screen readers and assistive technologies? Why does this matter, beyond the classroom?

Their responses were pleasantly surprising; students didn’t just describe their process; they reflected deeply on the ethics of accessible communication. One student wrote, “I never thought about how someone might not be able to watch my video before. Now, I feel like I have to think about everyone, not just the professor grading me.”

Another remarked, “Accessibility is like empathy in action.”

By integrating accessibility into our curriculum, we weren’t simply teaching FYW. The assignment was helping students become more thoughtful, inclusive communicators.

Lessons for Us All

What can other educators take from this experience? Here are a few lessons I’ll carry forward:

  • Start with accessibility: Rather than retrofitting accommodations, build accessibility into the structure of your assignments from the beginning. Frame it as part of rhetorical awareness, not just a technical task.
  • Provide resources, not just guidelines:
    • The assignment linked students to captioning tools, formatting guides, and examples of accessible documents. We also problem-solved in class, especially around technology. When students feel supported, they’re more willing to try something new.
  • Make reflection part of the learning: The act of captioning and creating accessible media taught them—but the writing made that learning visible. Students realized that accessibility isn’t a checkbox. It’s a mindset.

Accessibility is a Practice—Not a Perk

Quotebox: Accessibility is like empathy in action.

One of the most powerful outcomes of this project was the shift in student perspective. They began to understand that accessible communication isn’t about doing something “extra.” It’s about doing things right. On our next project, project five, over 80% of my students created accessible documents and videos… even though it was not a required part of the assignment.

As higher education continues to evolve in response to diverse student needs and digital innovation, we have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to build accessibility into our pedagogies. This assignment was just one small step, but it’s one I’ve kept building on.

And as it turns out, accessibility wasn’t just the subject of the assignment. It became the lesson itself.

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Navigating Course Sharing in the ICCOC: How Collaboration Shapes Online Education

Post author By Lindsey Downs
Post date May 8, 2025

When institutions come together with a shared vision, remarkable things can happen—especially in online education. This week on Frontiers, WCET Steering Committee member Theresa Umscheid, Executive Director of the Iowa Community College Online Consortium (ICCOC), shares how a commitment to equity, consistency, and student success guides the ICCOC’s approach to course sharing.

In her post, Theresa outlines how the ICCOC’s well-structured framework ensures high-quality online learning across partner colleges. This model demonstrates the strength of coordinated effort and shared responsibility in expanding online access while maintaining academic excellence.

We hope this look at the ICCOC inspires new ideas for collaboration at your institution!

Enjoy the read,
Lindsey Downs, WCET

The Iowa Community College Online Consortium (ICCOC) began online course sharing in 2000 to meet the needs of community colleges in Iowa. With limited resources and low online enrollments, a shared approach was the best solution. After twenty-five years, the ICCOC continues to grow each year, and course sharing still meets the needs of its partner institutions.

Young woman using a laptop computer and watching a course presentation

The ICCOC ensures equitable access to online learning for students across its partner institutions through thoughtful policies and a well-orchestrated framework that balances academic consistency, institutional equity, and student-centered support.

One of the key components guiding course sharing is the Shared eCourse Distribution Matrix which is maintained by the ICCOC. This matrix ensures that all Tier 1 colleges have equitable opportunities to teach shared courses. It operates on a system of “first rights” and “subsequent rights,” where the college at the top of the matrix gets the initial opportunity to offer a course, followed by others in the sequence when needed. This system helps balance teaching load and credit hour distribution across member institutions. The Distribution Matrix is evaluated annually to maintain fairness among the colleges.

The partner college with “first rights,” teaching the first section of a course in the 16 week shared term, plays a significant role in setting the academic standard. It determines the required textbooks and materials for all instructors teaching a section of that course across the member institutions. This helps maintain a consistent learning experience with common learning outcomes. Iowa has a common course numbering system across all 15 community colleges, which helps with consistency and better transferability to 4-year institutions.

Standardization for Seamless Student Experience

To create a uniform learning experience, shared online courses follow standardized term lengths and common start and end dates, which is determined by the ICCOC Oversight Committee. Courses are offered in various formats, including 16-week, 12-week, 8-week (first or second half of the 16 week term), and even 4-week terms over the summer and winter breaks.

The ICCOC’s Manager of Academic Scheduling plays a critical role in setting up course shells and enrolling instructors to assist colleges and track enrollments and the need for additional shared course sections. The ICCOC caps their course sections at 28 enrollments for all shared classes.

Although the ICCOC began by offering Shared Online courses, they added Restricted Online classes, fully online classes with students and instructors all from the same college, once enrollments increased and classes were filling with multiple sections needed.

Image of someone working on a laptop with the word collaboration on the laptop screen

Instructors teaching ICCOC shared courses are hired by the partner colleges, therefore, the ICCOC relies on the colleges to ensure each instructor meets the state and accrediting agency’s requirements for teaching at the community college level. Students enroll for all of their online classes at their home college, which is the college of record for academic transcripts, state reporting, and financial aid. This setup allows for a seamless academic experience where students receive advising, financial aid, and other services directly from their primary institution.

The ICCOC’s Associate Director helps coordinate communication with online students, especially those flagged as at-risk, ensuring timely intervention and support. She works closely with each partner college’s student support departments to ensure student success. Additionally, all syllabi are managed using Simple Syllabus, a tool that standardizes key course components while allowing instructors to personalize specific areas. This balance ensures institutional requirements are met while preserving academic freedom within guidelines.

In addition, the ICCOC provides a robust suite of free student support services, including online tutoring, 24/7 Help Desk, library resources, plagiarism detection tools, and remote proctoring.

ICCOC’s Coordinator of Online Resources provides textbook coordination for shared classes across all partner colleges and sets up all all-inclusive materials in our common VitalSource instance and tracks usage and billing to ensure deadlines and communications flow smoothly between colleges.

A Model of Collaborative Online Education

The ICCOC’s course sharing system reflects a thoughtful balance between institutional fairness, academic consistency, and student support. By maintaining a robust Distribution Matrix, standardized course formats, and shared resources, the ICCOC empowers its partner colleges to expand online access without compromising quality.

This collaborative approach is a strong example of how multiple institutions can work together to serve students better—proving that in education, sharing isn’t just about access, but about shared responsibility and collective excellence.

This post was written by Theresa Umscheid, Iowa Community College Online Consortium

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The Quality Conversation

Post author By Lindsey Downs
Post date May 1, 2025

It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since the sudden shift to remote learning in spring 2020. Institutions, faculty, and staff scrambled to keep courses going—and they did, under incredibly tough circumstances. But as time passed, many of the critiques of that emergency shift unfairly landed on online learning as a whole. In today’s post, John Opper, Executive Director of Distance Learning and Student Services with the Florida Virtual Campus, helps us take a step back and set the record straight. John reflects on the difference between emergency remote instruction and quality online learning and shares how Florida institutions continue to invest in doing online right.

Enjoy the read,

Lindsey Downs, WCET

A young woman sitting at a laptop working.

We are now five years away from the spring semester of 2020, when education faced the challenge of an emerging pandemic. Remember when the only option for continuing operations was to shift all courses online?

Everyone stepped up, and that conversion was made by the end of the spring break period. Operations continued: students adapted, faculty adjusted their courses, and online learning professionals worked tirelessly to support, in most cases, double the normal online course offerings. Our online course listings catalog in Florida went from approximately 79,000 to over 135,000 in very short order.

Quickly, the term “remote learning” was coined to describe the converted face-to-face courses, and there was a significant rise in synchronous online courses. Extraordinary measures were taken at a time of great necessity. I think it is fair to say that our remote learning courses were as good as we could make them, given the conditions at the time.

Post-pandemic, several surveys of public opinion and stories in the general media raised questions about the quality of remote learning in higher education. Some stories reported student dissatisfaction with their experience, and others suggested that online learning should be discouraged in favor of face-to-face delivery. Concerns about student learning and retention followed,  all of which were unfairly laid at the feet of online learning in general.

Why Quality Online Learning Takes Time—and Why That Matters

Over the course of the last 35 years, distance learning has enjoyed significant growth in postsecondary education. As a result, we have learned a thing or two about how to offer effective and engaging instruction using the technologies available. Since the 1990’s, when a distance learning renaissance began, colleges and universities have invested significantly in digital technology (i.e., Learning Management Systems, plagiarism detection, media hosting, remote assessment proctoring, etc.), faculty development, and support for teaching utilizing technology to better meet the needs and expectations of students. Further, colleges and universities have added instructional designers and adopted policies and procedures to ensure that any new distance learning course or program has been thoroughly tested, reviewed, and monitored to meet the institution’s quality standards. To aid in that effort, several quality assurance rubrics and processes have been created through professional and affiliated organizations such as Quality Matters and the Online Learning Consortium. In addition, accrediting agencies have also adopted quality standards for distance learning programs. A concern for and dedication to producing the best courses and programs has been a core value throughout the growth period of the last three and a half decades. Given the short window of time, the product of the “remote learning” model, offered as an emergency solution to the challenges presented by the pandemic, could not go through the same process that is utilized through the normal operations of our distance learning programs. As a result, what we were able to produce in three months during the emergency conversion period of COVID-19 and what is the normal expectation for a distance learning course or program should not be viewed with the same lens.

Despite the popularity and benefits of online learning, three conversations never seem to be far away when the topic comes up. The three concerns are:

  1. The cost of online learning courses and programs,
  2. academic integrity in online courses, and,
  3. the quality of online courses.

WCET has done good work in researching and following these issues. The three topics, cost, academic integrity, and quality, are often interrelated. What starts out as one conversation can easily expand to include the other two. A well-designed online course can be more expensive than a face-to-face course. And a well-designed online course normally manages to address the assessment of student learning thoughtfully. Are there poor online learning courses? Certainly, no mode of instructional delivery is completely free of problems. Although face-to-face courses are sometimes the target of such critical discussions, they seem to enjoy some level of immunity in the theater of public discourse when it comes to quality. However, the question remains, through all of these concerns, how we can have a fair and productive conversation about quality in online learning?

Quality in Online Learning Takes the Stage in Florida

In response to some of the unfair criticism of online learning and to spotlight the critical efforts of Florida’s colleges and universities to deliver high-quality instruction, the Florida Virtual Campus (FLVC), in collaboration with its college and university members council, launched a month-long Quality in Online Teaching and Learning Initiative. The month is in one part a showcase for the quality assurance efforts of our institutions and a chance to illustrate some of the amazing courses and learning tools in use plus an opportunity for further professional development for our faculty and staff.

A large room full of individuals listening to a presentation

We offered two tracks of activities. The first involved a once-a-week series of large issue panel presentations coupled with more focused webinars throughout each week on best practice activities or tool and techniques sessions designed to inform and share resources that could enhance quality improvement. The second track was composed of low-cost professional development certification courses for staff to obtain the APPQMR certification through Quality Matters. The sessions were offered on a variety of days and online by our faculty in cooperation with Quality Matters. The goal was to provide a low cost, convenient opportunity for our institutions to increase the number of APPQMR certified faculty on our campuses.

With the help of our institutions, our faculty, Quality Matters, WCET, and others, we were able to build a solid program for the month of April. Our hope is that this can be the start of a more visible conversation and showcase for the work that has been and continues to be underway. Perhaps this is something that would work for other states and institutions as well? We are happy to share more about what we accomplished and what we learned along the way.

Let’s Reignite the Quality Conversation

A conversation about quality in online courses and programs can sometimes be received with all the excitement of a tax audit. We need to change that dynamic. The journey to make our online courses and programs the best that they can possibly be is a journey that does not really have an ending. There will always be new technologies, tools, and ideas that we can use to better support learners and teachers. If we don’t keep talking about improvement, then we will miss opportunities to move forward. The more we talk about quality in a positive way, as an opportunity to collaborate, create, improve, explore, inspire and support, the more progress we may see. Fortunately, we have faculty and online learning professionals who are doing just that. And we need to tell that story often and loudly.

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20 Years of WOW: Celebrating Innovation in Digital Learning

Post author By Lindsey Downs
Post date April 24, 2025

The WCET Outstanding Work (WOW) Award honors exceptional initiatives by our WCET member institutions and organizations. We use the WOW Award program to showcase important and innovative projects from all over the US.

As we’ve celebrated just over two decades of WOW Award winners (whoa!), I wanted to take a moment to look back at the history of the projects. I had questions about how the challenges and innovations have changed over time. I identified three themes, reviewing all past recipients. These themes show that, while the specific challenges and technologies may evolve, the core focus of WOW Award-winning projects remains on driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and ensuring equity in digital learning.

A Brief History of the WOW Awards

In 2004, our then-Executive Director, Sally Johnstone, introduced the first annual WOW Awards: “We started this new award to recognize outstanding efforts in implementing technology in higher education.

2004 WOW Award logo - the original logo

Others can learn valuable lessons from these projects.” She also mentioned that WCET members are consistently on the cutting edge in using educational technologies.  

The first four winners of the WOW Awards were:

  • Colorado Community Colleges Online for its Online E-learning Quality Assurance Manual, a comprehensive guide for developing and evaluating courses, programs, and faculty training to ensure continuous improvement in distance education.
  • Minnesota State Colleges and Universities for Minnesota Online’s eStudent Services, which includes a student service audit tool—developed in partnership with WCET—to help institutions identify and improve web-based student support services.
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the course ¡A su salud! Spanish for Health Professionals, a multimedia learning experience that helps health professionals build Spanish language skills through video, interviews, and a telenovela-style narrative.
  • University of North Dakota, for its Distance Engineering Undergraduate Degree Program, is the only ABET-accredited online program offering bachelor’s degrees in Chemical, Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering.

Impressive initiatives, programs, and projects followed this first round of winners. While many of these innovations may feel commonplace today, it’s important to consider the context and time. These institutions often implemented emerging technologies well ahead of the curve. For example:

  • MarylandOnline: Quality Matters (2005)
  • Rio Salado College’s Virtual Practicum Experience (2007)
  • Dakota State University’s Student Retention Alert System – a web-based early-alert system (2008).
  • Foothill-De Anza Community College District’s College Open Textbooks Collaborative (2010)
  • The Open Educational Resource (OER) Faculty Fellowship at Lane Community College (2013)
  • Capella University’s innovation FlexPath direct-assessment programs (2014)
  • Colorado Technical University’s CTU Mobile (2016)
  • Colorado Department of Higher Education OER Council: OER Grant Program (2019)
  • Native American Art Course Redesign with Nicolet College(2022)

If I list any more of our exceptional awardees, this blog will get too long. Please visit our WOW webpages to learn more about these and all our outstanding WOW recipients.

Theme 1: Technological Innovation as a Catalyst for Change

image of a growing seedling with technology abstracts

Since 2004, members have submitted nominations showcasing how institutions and organizations use emerging technologies to solve specific problems or improve outcomes. These efforts have helped shape the evolution of digital learning: driving shifts in everything from course design and delivery to AI, data analytics, and personalized learning.

This theme highlights something important about our members – a viewpoint I am 100% on board with: WCET members have consistently used technology not just for the sake of it, but to creatively solve real, timely challenges for learners.

Yes, our community embraces fun and emerging tools, but that’s not the whole story.

What stands out is how our institutions and organizations focus on strategic innovations that shift how learning happens. No wonder we call these the WOW awards!

Theme 2: Collaboration and Partnership Drive Scalable Impact

We’ve established that the nominated initiatives and our recipients are implementing great ideas. But through the history of the awards, the success of a project isn’t just because of a great idea – it’s because of the collaborative power behind it. We’ve given limited individual WOW awards to one person, and those were due to extenuating circumstances. Rarely are these initiatives a solo act. Through cross-campus collaboration, consortia, state-wide systems, and partnerships with vendors and other institutions, many WOW winners achieve scalability and sustainability by pooling resources and aligning goals across institutions or teams.

Some examples that come to mind:

  • Mississippi Virtual Community College (2024): A statewide collaboration that expanded student access to online learning across multiple colleges.
  • Online Consortium of Oklahoma (2023): Institutions working together to provide quality online courses, professional development, and shared services.
  • SUNY’s Open Education Resources initiative (2019) and the 2024 SUNY OER Anatomy & Physiology project (2024): Large-scale collaboration on OER development across campuses, increasing affordability and access.
  • Kentucky Community and Technical College System (2009): Early example of a system-wide approach to online course sharing and support.

Turns out, teamwork really does make the (digital learning) dream work.

Theme 3: Innovation That Reaches Every Learner

Image of a globe with lines encircling it, indicating connection or reach to everyone around the world

These initiatives are designed to serve diverse learning populations better, meeting students where they are geographically and in life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation saw firsthand how many students face significant challenges simply accessing quality education, let alone completing coursework from home.

In response, cities, counties, and states took steps to expand access to essential resources. I also believe that we, as a higher education community, have become more aware of how “real-life” circumstances affect students’ ability to learn. Many institutions now offer expanded support to help ensure students can focus on their education.

As these services have become more widely available, the conversation has shifted from access alone to meaningful access. When students are equipped with the right tools, support, and infrastructure, they no longer have to worry about just getting in the door. They can focus on learning—and they’re far more likely to thrive.

What Future WOW Winners Might Tell Us – Nominations Are Open!

2025 WOW Award logo

While it keeps me busy, I really enjoy heading up the WCET Awards Program. I get to learn about new things, collaborate with our members, and celebrate our member’s good work.

Looking back at the work recognized through the WOW awards over the years has been a pleasure. Our community is full of passionate educators and problem-solvers.

Now – it’s your turn.

The 2025 WOW Award nominations are open. I can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on. Help us continue to inspire, share, and celebrate the work moving digital learning in higher education forward. Nominate for a WOW Award now.

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Practice

Charting the Course for Academic Innovation: Reflections from the 100 Year Ed Tech Project

Post author By Lindsey Downs
Post date April 3, 2025

The future of education really isn’t that far away, especially when you consider that it is being shaped right now through the ideas, innovations, and voices of all of us. That’s why WCET wanted to be a part of an outstanding event held last week, the 100 Year Ed Tech Project’s 2025 Design Summit. This year’s Summit, held at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and sponsored by WCET, brought together educators, students, and thought leaders.

In today’s post, Dr. Angela Gunder joins us to share key takeaways from the Summit, highlighting the power of student-led innovation, the impact of collaborative scenario design, and the essential role of organizations like WCET in fostering events and conversations just like this one. Thank you, Angela, for these excellent reflections. Make sure to check out the webpage for the 100 Year Ed Tech Project at the end of the post!

Enjoy the read,
Lindsey Downs, WCET

Six individuals on a stage with a projector screen behind them that reads "100 year EdTech project design summit" and "scenario 8 Beyond Borders."
Members of the “Beyond Borders: The Rise of Knowledge Economies” scenario share the outputs of their design work with the summit attendees.

In an ever-evolving world marked by rapid technological advancement and shifting societal needs, how do we ensure that education remains a transformative force for good?

What is the value of gathering to reimagine the future of education 50 years from now?

At the heart of these questions lies a collective desire to envision a future where education is vibrant, inclusive, and driven by innovation. The 100 Year Ed Tech Project’s 2025 Design Summit, held at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and sponsored by WCET, was conceived as a space to grapple with these questions and to collectively design actionable solutions.

A Bold Format for Collective Imagination

As a leading authority in digital learning policy, practice, and advocacy, WCET has long championed the development of thoughtful, evidence-based strategies for integrating technology into educational contexts. In my dual role as a co-organizer of the Summit as well as an event participant from a WCET member institution, I was particularly thrilled to have WCET as a partner for this. Their involvement signaled a commitment to bold, future-focused conversations. It reinforced the importance of bringing diverse voices to the table, aligning seamlessly with their vision for advancing the effective use of technology in higher education to expand access and opportunity for all learners.

Three professionally dressed individuals stand in front of a sign that reads "100 Year EdTech Project Design Summit"
Members of the core planning team, Melissa Vito, Angela Gunder, and Samantha Becker, gather for a photo in between the design sessions.

The Summit itself was an evolution of ideas and aspirations, rooted in the vision of Lev Gonick, CIO at Arizona State University, and further shaped by Samantha Becker, CEO of SAB Consulting, Joe Lambert, Founder and Co-Executive Director of Story Center, and Ruben Puentedura, Founder and President of Hippasus. Their foundational work, which emphasized storytelling and narrative as powerful tools for educational transformation, inspired the core ethos of the 100 Year Ed Tech Project.

The event was designed not only to look forward—envisioning education fifty years into the future—but also to reflect on the lessons of the past fifty years, identifying successes, failures, and opportunities for growth.

Opening Space for a Plurality of Voices

One of the most powerful aspects of the Summit was the intentional inclusion of students as equal participants in all opportunities at the event. In a landscape where student voices are often tokenized, the 100 Year Ed Tech Project defied convention by embedding students at the heart of the discourse. Student-led academic innovation has become a hallmark at UTSA, under the visionary leadership of Melissa Vito, VP of Academic Innovation. In particular, the context of AI strategy. Having so many students from UTSA, ASU, and other institutions not only present but actively contributing to the design sprints allowed us to ground our visionary work in real-world perspectives, embodying the principle that the future of education must be co-created with those it seeks to serve.

A powerful remix of the previous year’s Summit was our commitment to democratizing the design of the future scenarios used to plan the next 50 years of ed tech. Rather than relying solely on organizers to draft future scenarios, we issued an open call for ideas from educators around the globe. This call was met with enthusiasm, resulting in a diverse array of scenarios that represented a wide spectrum of challenges and aspirations. The community voted on the most compelling ideas, and those selected became the focal points for the Summit’s collaborative design sprints. This approach not only democratized participation but also ensured that the ideas we explored were timely, relevant, and grounded in the lived experiences of educators from various contexts.

Four individuals discussing in a group,with several additional groups throughout a theater style room.
Participants at the event take part in a Futures Literacies Storytelling activity led by Ruben Puentedura.

Setting the Course for the Future

The Summit’s tangible outcomes include blueprints for the future—strategic design solutions ranging from policy recommendations to creative integration strategies. These outputs are not static documents but living resources, intended to be adapted and implemented within diverse educational contexts. Moving forward, we plan to continue the conversation through online forums and future events, nurturing the ideas and partnerships that emerged from the Summit.

Photo of a large room full of round tables with several people sitting at each table
Educators gather to design for a positive future of AI in the scenario “Automate to Elevate: AI as a Creative Muse.”

As a member of the WCET community, their sponsorship was instrumental in fostering this spirit of inclusion and innovation. WCET’s presence, particularly through the participation of Van Davis, Executive Director, and Megan Raymond, Senior Director of Memberships and Programs, brought critical insights into the evolving landscape of AI in education. Their commitment to policy and practice provided a crucial lens through which we could evaluate our collective aspirations, ensuring that our conversations were not only visionary but also grounded in the practical realities of higher education.

For those new to the 100 Year Ed Tech Project or convenings like this one that WCET frequently sponsors for its members, I encourage you to take a chance on thinking big and boldly. Share your dreams and find collaborators who resonate with your vision. Together, we can reimagine education, building a future that is both aspirational and grounded in community-driven innovation.

To learn more about the 100 Year Ed Tech Project and how to get involved, visit the project website at https://100yearedtechproject.org/.

This post was written by Dr. Angela Gunder, CEO and Founder of Opened Culture, and Learning Experience Design Specialist at The University of Arizona, a WCET member institution. She wrote this post with some help from ChatGPT with pre-writing ideation.

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Practice

Giving Visuals a Voice – the Impact of Audio Descriptions in Digital Learning

Post author By Lindsey Downs
Post date March 28, 2025
Image with several different accessibility icons like CC icons, icon for hearing assistance, internet icons, settings gear, sign language illustrations Audio Description icon, etc
Image with several different accessibility icons like CC icons, icon for hearing assistance, internet icons, settings gear, sign language illustrations Audio Description icon, etc.

Ensuring accessibility in digital learning is a priority for WCET, and audio descriptions are a crucial component in making video content inclusive for all learners. But what exactly are audio descriptions, and how can they improve the learning experience? Let’s dive into the fundamentals of audio descriptions and how they enhance accessibility in higher education.

What Are Audio Descriptions?

An audio description is a narration added to a video’s soundtrack to describe important visual details that cannot be understood from the main audio alone. This additional narration provides key information about:

  • actions,
  • characters,
  • scene changes,
  • on-screen text, and,
  • other visual content…making videos more accessible for individuals who are blind or an individual with a visual impairment.

Typically, these descriptions are inserted during existing pauses in dialogue. However, when necessary, a video can be paused to allow for additional descriptions. Depending on the platform, audio descriptions may be offered as an optional alternate soundtrack or integrated into the standard audio track for all viewers.

Nostalgic and Practical Examples

Initially, I found it challenging to fully understand the role of audio descriptions. The Audio Description Project recommended an excellent example that helped me understand how vital these narrations are for providing essential visual information. Here’s that example:

 In addition, here are some examples of audio descriptions in action in educational settings:

  • Lecture Enhancement: Imagine an instructor points to a graph and says, “This is the most important trend.” Without additional context, students who cannot see the graph miss vital information. An audio description can clarify: “The instructor points to a rising trend in student engagement from 2020 to 2024.”
  • Complex Scientific Content: In a biology video, the audio description could explain how an animation shows cell membranes passing through membrane channels.
  • Art Courses: If a video shows artwork such as a painting, the audio description could provide details on the art, for example: “This painting shows different shades of blue and green colors with a yellow flower in the middle.”
  • Laboratory Demonstrations: Students often watch videos showing chemistry experiments. The audio description could explain that “the scientist adds blue liquid to a clear solution in a test tube. The liquid turns green and starts bubbling.”

Promising Practices for Implementing Audio Descriptions

Here are some promising practices for adding audio descriptions into your digital learning content:

A hand holding a pen marking off checklist boxes.
  • Plan Ahead – When creating videos, consider adding audio descriptions in advance to ensure key visual details are covered. This way, you don’t have to add them back in later.
  • Use Professional Narration – A clear, well-paced voice makes audio descriptions more effective and engaging.
  • Ensure Compatibility – Test your videos on different platforms to confirm that users can easily access the description track.
  • Gather Feedback – Solicit input from students and others who use audio descriptions to identify areas for improvement.

Additional Resources for Implementing Audio Descriptions

Are you ready to explore this topic and integrate audio descriptions into your content? Check out these resources for more guidance and best practices:

The WCET Commitment to Accessibility

At WCET, we believe that accessibility is fundamental to digital learning. By implementing audio descriptions, institutions can create a learning environment that supports all students.

This blog post was written by Lindsey Downs with editing assistance from ChatGPT and Megan Raymond.

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Practice

Accessibility in Higher Ed: Learn What You Need to Know

Post author By Lindsey Downs
Post date March 21, 2025

The focus on accessibility in higher education has significantly increased since the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced new requirements for websites and mobile applications.

These regulations apply to all public colleges and universities and mandate that digital content meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards.

A young woman using a laptop computer

Compliance Deadlines:

  • April 24, 2026 – Larger institutions (serving 50,000+ people)
  • April 24, 2027 – Smaller institutions (serving fewer than 50,000)
An individual writing in a notebook by a calendar

But accessibility isn’t just about compliance—it’s about ensuring all students have equal access to learning opportunities.

When digital spaces are inaccessible, students with disabilities face unnecessary barriers that hinder their academic success. Creating accessible content benefits everyone, from students using screen readers to those navigating online courses in low-bandwidth environments.

That’s why WCET has been working hard to support institutions in their accessibility journey—providing expert insights, timely resources, and a community for shared learning.

WCET’s Accessibility Resources & Insights

Recent WCET Frontiers Blog Posts:

WCET Accessibility Events

Exclusive Resources: (Members Only)

Join the Conversation in MIX!

Beyond these resources, our DISCUSS community on MIX has been buzzing with great conversations about accessibility! Members have shared insights on:

  • Evaluating OER for accessibility
  • Messaging for faculty & staff about the regulations
  • Accessibility resources for online course content
  • Faculty & staff training
    And much more!

If you haven’t explored MIX yet, you’re missing out on a great way to connect with peers tackling similar challenges!

Check out mix

The Power of AI in Accessibility

In March 2025, WCET, Every Learner Everywhere, and Teach Access hosted a free webcast exploring the intersection of AI and accessibility in higher education. Topics included:

  • Key accessibility concepts and their impact on higher education,
  • How AI can both help and harm individuals with disabilities,
  • Real-world assistive technology applications of AI,
  • Practical guidance for implementing AI in a way that benefits all learners.

At the same time, Every Learner and Teach Access will release a new AI & Accessibility Toolkit designed for higher education institutions, such as assistive technologies & digital accessibility best practices, legal, quality, and policy considerations, and practical tools—activities, discussion prompts, and reading lists. The recording will be available here.

What’s Your Institution’s Biggest Accessibility Challenge?

With the DOJ’s deadlines fast approaching, institutions are at different stages of preparation. What challenges is your institution facing? Have you found strategies that work? Drop us a comment on LinkedIn or join the conversation in MIX—we’d love to hear from you! 💬

Together, let’s make higher education more accessible for everyone.

This blog post was written by Lindsey Downs and refined by ChatGPT.

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