1. It’s Not Just Course Design… It’s EPIC
Emily Holliday, Angela Washington, Patrick Williams, Beverly House
Wake Technical Community College

2. EPIC – eLearning Preparedness Initiative across the College
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3. EPIC Teamwork
Collaboration between eLearning support and faculty and staff representatives on six teams
Participatory decision making from the bottom up
Practitioners as leaders
Faculty and staff developed and aligned EPIC strategies to improve online learning
Structured as grant project for QEP

4. Objective 1 Student Preparedness
Help students overcome online learning barriers and gain the skills they need to be successful online learners

5. Objective 2 FACULTY Preparedness
Help faculty design and deliver online courses in accordance with Wake Tech’s e-Learning quality standards

6. Online Teaching Certification
Developed and implemented by
faculty and staff in one year:
Based on EPIC Quality eLearning Standards developed by faculty
Three Pathways to certification:
Provide a framework of standards
Offer instructional design support
Develop and deliver an online teaching certification program
Design and deliver quality online courses
30 Hours PD
Peer Review
Mentoring

7. EPIC Quality eLearning Standards
Best practices in online design and delivery
Navigation
Communication
Collaboration
Assessment
Participatory, team-based development by faculty and eLearning staff
Based on research into best practices
+40 versions
Final version deployed 8/2015

8. Pathway 1 – Certification by Professional Development
EPIC30 – 30 hours of PD training based on standards
LMS Training
Accessibility
Universal Design for Learning
Navigation
Communication and Collaboration
Assessment including rubrics
Capstone
Image source: Disney/Lucas Films
Phased launch began September 2015

9. EPIC30 Courses Courses Credit
Blackboard Skills: Customization and Resources, Course Files and Content, Communication Tools, Assessments, Grade Center
7 hours
Introduction to Accessibility
3 hours
Best Practices in Course Navigation and Design
4 hours
Best Practices in Online Communication & Collaboration
Best Practices in Online Assessments
Introduction to Universal Design for Learning
Capstone Course
Total Hours
30 hours

10. Pathway 2 – Certification by Peer Review
Rubric used is based on EPIC Quality eLearning Standards
Process and rubric developed by team of faculty and instructional designers
Experienced faculty submit a course, that has already been delivered, for Peer Review
Experienced faculty submit a course, that has already been delivered, for Peer Review
Assessed using a rubric based on standards and best practices
Peer Review allows a faculty member to demonstrate proficiency in online course design, pedagogy, and delivery
A three-person team of certified Peer Reviewers will assess the course based on EPIC Quality eLearning Standards
All Peer Reviewers must first earn their EPIC Online Teaching Certification and
Complete a 6 hour training course on peer reviewing online courses using our EPIC Quality eLearning Standards and associated rubric

11. Pathway 2: Peer Review
Peer Review allows a faculty member to demonstrate proficiency in online course design, pedagogy, and delivery
A three-person team of certified Peer Reviewers will assess the course based on EPIC Quality eLearning Standards and Quality Matters

12. Peer Reviewers
All Peer Reviewers must first earn their EPIC Online Teaching Certification and
Complete a 6 hour training course on peer reviewing online courses using our EPIC Quality eLearning Standards and associated rubric

13. Pathway 3 – Lateral Entry and Mentoring
For new online instructors
Mentoring program developed based on best practices

14. Mentors
All Mentors must first earn their EPIC Online Teaching Certification and
Complete a 6 hour training course on mentoring, with modules on:
Practices, Policies, Procedures and Resources
Setting Goals and Time Management
Communication Skills
Conflict Resolution

15. Pathway 3 – Lateral Entry
Lateral entry – faculty are assigned a mentor, within their discipline, while they complete the EPIC30 courses towards certification (3 semesters)
Pilot began in spring 2017
In fall 2017 – 36 faculty; 19 mentors

16. EPIC Certified Snapshot
Began process in Fall 2015
21 online faculty certified by Peer Review
324 online faculty certified by Professional Development (EPIC 30)
467 total certified
Includes seated, hybrid, staff

17. EPIC Master Certification
Program for experienced faculty, who are already certified
Faculty work with Instructional Designers to update courses to “exemplary status”
Take training to become a mentor or peer reviewer
10 complete as of August

18. Faculty Comments
“I am making a focused effort to improve my perceived instructor presence in my online courses. I am intentional in communicating with the students so they do not feel abandoned or alone in the course. I will focus on teamwork and assignments in applicable courses in the future.” “I have done more to orient students to the course. I have made changes to many resources so that they are accessible. I now use the Blackboard file system to post resources. This has greatly simplified things for me.”

19. It’s all about the Brand

20. EPIC Collaboration Vital to Success
Every person at Wake Tech was considered a “stakeholder”–Faculty, Student, Staff, Administration
EPIC Teams were created and their members were selected from every area of the college

21. Being EPIC Isn't Easy… Communication avenues: Collaboration between:
Newsletter/ blogs
Printed material
Collaboration between:
Teams
Administration
Faculty
Students
Service Areas support

22. EPIC CM Objective Information distribution Professional development
Rewards and incentives
EPIC ambassadors

23. EPIC Change Management (CM) Plan
The CM Plan follows the Prosci ADKAR® model
Awareness
Desire
Knowledge
Ability
Reinforcement
The Road to EPIC Success

24. EPIC Information

25. EPIC Blog–Future Forward Thinking
New Fall 2017 Blog Features:
Online Eagles–Student Spotlight of the Month
Student Success Corner–Student Services approach to early intervention equals early retention
Instructional Design–Tricks of the Trade
The Best of the Best–Best Practices in the Online Environment

26. Reaching Our EPIC Students
Information distributed via and print builds awareness
eLearning Intro builds knowledge, ability, and desire
Registration for online courses serves as reinforcement

27. EPIC Ambassadors
Full-time faculty or staff member interested in, and supportive of, the EPIC initiative.

28. EPIC Ambassadors cont…
Serves as a departmental resource for his or her colleagues in regards to EPIC implementation.
Works with department head or supervisor to serve as a representative of the department when communicating with EPIC teams and other administrators involved in the QEP.

29. EPIC’s Future
Transition from Change Management to focus more on sustaining the changes
Creating a faculty repository
Include materials that expand on our EPIC 30 course material
Best practices in online teaching
Resources faculty can share with students to help increase achievement

30. Summary
Requiring students to take free online course preparation training before enrolling in an online class
To better prepare students for taking online courses
Offering three pathways for faculty to earn their EPIC Online Teaching Certification
To better prepare faculty to design and deliver online courses

31. Questions?
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