River Parishes Community College, like the other members of the Louisiana Community and Technical College institutions, stand on the cusp of learning and eLearning innovation. Jesse Walczak, an Assistant Professor of English at RPCC, was a presenter on eLearning Innovation at the Louisiana Board of Regents’ Electronic Learning and Strategic Planning Task Force Conference held Wednesday, April 10 at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge.
The subject, eLearning: Innovation for Tomorrow’s Students, was discussed in large and small discussion sessions and included representatives across the state. E-learning theory describes the cognitive science principles of effective multimedia learning using electronic educational technology and Walczak offered insight into online course design and execution at RPCC and similar institutions of higher learning.
Project Abstract: Quality Matters Training/or Faculty at RPCC
River Parishes Community College is committed to offering quality online courses that adhere to best practices and standards of online course design. As part of this initiative, RPCC has offered training in online course design through Quality Matters to new faculty members acquired through campus mergers. Additionally, RPCC has experienced an influx of online courses being submitted for review by the Online Review Committee.
This increase in number of courses submitted has created a need for more Quality Matters Certified Peer Reviewers to serve on the Online Review Committee, and the grant has funded training for these additional QM Peer Reviewers.
The grant also considers RPCC’s existing online courses that have met all standards on our Internal Review Rubric and the need for further certification of these courses. As part of this initiative, three Open Educational Resource online courses are undergoing a full subscriber-managed QM review to receive the Quality Matters Certification Mark.
About Jesse Walczak
Walczak is an Assistant Professor of English at River Parishes Community College. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Louisiana at Monroe and a master’s degree in English from the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies from the University of Alabama. In addition to dedicating herself to innovative teaching strategies in the face-to face classroom, Jesse also devotes much of her time to building and teaching online courses. She currently serves as Faculty Representative, Phi Theta Kappa advisor, QM Peer Reviewer, and Online Review Committee deputy chair.