UW Online Courses Receive National Award

Madison, WI - Two University of Wisconsin Colleges’ (UWC) courses, taught exclusively over the Internet, have received national awards for their innovative approaches to teaching using online technology. Music 273, “Jazz History and Appreciation," and Meteorology 100, “Introduction to Meteorology," each won honorable mention in the Online Academy E-Learning Design Awards program.

The courses were honored at the 2nd Annual Online Instruction Conference at the University of Kansas in late May.

“Jazz History and Appreciation," intended to introduce students to the intricacies of the American jazz movement, was developed for online delivery by University of Wisconsin Learning Innovations. UWLI is the UW System’s e-learning utility that works with the 15 UW institutions to offer full degrees and certificates online.

“Courses taught over the Internet are the result of an entire team effort involving the professor, instructional developers, an editor and quality assurance specialists," Patricia Fellows, UW Colleges Distance Education Director, said. “UW Learning Innovations, a provider of instructional design & technical support, is an integral part of that team."

According to Fellows, online courses are taught by UW faculty and backed by the high standards and reputation of the University of Wisconsin. Students can take all required freshmen/sophomore courses online or take some online courses to complement credits that they will be earning, or have earned, elsewhere. The credits earned through online courses such as “Jazz History and Appreciation," and “Introduction to Meteorology" transfer just like those earned in a traditional classroom setting.

Based at the University of Kansas, the E-Learning Design Lab annually presents the E-Learning Design Award that celebrates and illustrates innovative approaches to teaching using online technology. Nominations for this award were invited from faculty and teams of faculty and staff who have made outstanding contributions in computer-based courseware development in the last two years. Courses considered for an award had to be fully online, content rich, and must allow for self-directed learning by the student. This was the first year that UW colleges nominated its courses for national recognition.

UW Learning Innovations transforms traditional classroom models into online courses available anytime, anywhere and also creates entirely new courseware to meet training needs of individuals, corporations, and organizations. By leveraging more than 100 years of UW distance education experience into interactive online designs, UW Learning Innovations helps learners of all kinds, in both educational and corporate settings, to reach their goals. For more information about UW Learning Innovations, please visit http://learn.wisconsin.edu/ .

For more information contact:

Teri Venker
Phone: 608-263-5061
Email: tvenker.uwc.edu

Jennifer Streblow
Phone: 608-265-5349
Email: jennifers@learn.uwsa.edu