Online Learning Consortium

The Online Learning Consortium which was previously known by the name “The Sloan Consortium” (Sloan-C) is an institutional and professional leadership organization. This organization is devoted to incorporating online education into the mainstream of higher education. This organization has a goal “to help institutions and individual educators improve the quality, scale, and breadth of online education”. This consortium was originally funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. But now it is known to be a non-profit, member sustained organization.

Vision and Mission of the OLC:

The Online Learning Consortium has one vision and mission that it works on.

Vision: Setting the global standard in online and digital learning.

Mission: Creating community and knowledge around quality online, blended, and digital learning while driving innovation.

What does the OLC offer?

The Online Learning Consortium has the following to offer:

• A huge catalogue of degrees and certificate programs that are offered by a wide range of regionally accredited member institutions, consortia, and industry partners.
• It also provides speakers and consultants to help different institutions learn about different online methodologies that can help them improve their teaching techniques.
• It also hosts conferences and workshops that can help educational institutions to implement and improve online programs.
• It offers an awards program and an effective practice database so that members can share the lessons they have learned with others.
• It published the OLC view, the journal online learning and annual volumes of applied research studies and conducts research and annual surveys on online learning and forums to inform academic, government and private sector audiences.
• The Online Learning Consortium generates a variety of result-oriented ideas to improve products, services, and standards for the online learning industry. With that, it also assists members in different collaborative initiatives. These members include different private and public universities, colleges, community colleges, and other degrees and accredited course providers.

How does OLC benefit educational institutions?

Now that we know what the Online Learning Consortium is and what are its contributions and services towards learning organizations. Let us now discuss how the OLC benefit or help different learning organizations and institutes.

The OLC constantly provides different resources, techniques, and facilities to the educational sectors to help them rise. In other words, the OLC contributes towards helping the educational sector improve the quality, scale, and breadth of all the online programs that they offer. Rather than trying to implement a system that the OLC offer, it offers suggestions and resources according to each educational institution’s distinctive missions. Thus it enables the educational sectors to become better and make education a part of everyday life. By making education accessible and affordable for anyone and anywhere, the OLC tends to fulfil its vision and mission.

Who is benefiting from the OLC?

The OLC aims to support the combine sharing of knowledge and effective practices that can improve the standards of online education. OLC wants to improve the standard of education in the following regard.

• Learning effectiveness.
• Accessibility.
• Affordability.
• Faculty and student satisfaction.

The OLC community:

Online Learning Consortium Community has personnel like

• Faculty members.
• Trainers.
• Instructional designers.
• Educational institutions.
• Administrators.
• Educational institutions.
• Corporate enterprises.
• And professional societies.

Thus by joining the force, ideas and hard work of all the above mentioned, the OLC reaches its mission.

OLC workshops:

The OLC practices a lot of synchronous and asynchronous methods for effective and engaging learning. In other words, the workshops that OLC arranges enable different colleagues from all over the world to engage cost-effectively with peers and experts. This is done through synchronous and asynchronous methods. Particularly, the OLC is committed to using best practices in online learning in each of their workshops. That is why the workshops utilize proven teaching strategies and learning activities that help all those who participate to generate creative ideas. It is because of these creative ideas that the participants can improve their teaching environment.

All of the workshops, certificate programs, and mastery series can be accessed by Here.

Also if a viewer needs to search a workshop by a specific topic, name or date then click Here.

Online teaching certificate programs:

With all the workshops, conferences and degrees from different institutions, the OLC also offers an Online Teaching Certificate program. This teaching program is a sequence of one foundation course, which is then followed by different elective courses. Other things like creation and revision of an online course are also done under the guidance of a mentor. This program will help to leverage one’s background and proficiencies as an educator, administrator or institutional leader. Ultimately it will help them become all such people a more effective online teaching and learning professional.

At the end of this program, a learner will be fully prepared to design and develop a whole new online or blended course. It is a hope that a learner will be able to develop such a course that is based on current research and best practices.

So if you want to learn more about the online teaching certificate program or even register for it then click Here.

Advanced Online Teaching Certificate:

Next comes the advanced online teaching certificate that aims to enhance and improve a person’s current skills. This is a 12-week long workshop that is specifically designed to help educators polish their existing online courses and degree programs. This will help them to have a positive impact on advanced learning. Thus this advanced teaching certificate will help them become more effective in all the principles and practices of online teaching.

For further details regarding this, click Here.

Ending our discussion by saying that the Online Learning Consortium is a very meticulous, effective and active online learning platform. The organization is in collaboration with several educational institutions that work together towards adding reforms in online learning. One of its top example of online educational institute is nptel online courses