1.
Light at the End of the Tunnel:
Now What?
Darcy W Hardy, PhD
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, North America
Blackboard Inc.

2.
Online
Learning -
Defined
• Technology-Enhanced
• Digital Teaching and Learning
• Blended or Hybrid
• Fully Online
They all require thoughtful
strategies for highest quality

3.
EmergencyRemote vs Online Learning
• Fast, minimal and primarily
synchronous
• Rarely uses instructional design
theory/elements
• Attempts to duplicate f2f
• Minimal training for faculty –
mostly technology
• Limited engagement/interaction
• Student support structures may or
may not exist(online)
• May not use an LMS
• Strategic, thoughtful and
deliberate
• Data-driven processes focused on
quality
• Includes full online learning
ecosystem (vision, strategy,
support)
• Not dependent upon synchronous
delivery
• Highly engaging and interactive
elements
• Generally uses an LMS and takes
advantageof the Internet
Remote Learning Online Learning

4.
We’refatigued from
everything “digital.”

5.
Students – Satisfactionand Looking Ahead
• Feedback has been positive, negative and everything in between
• Digital Learning Pulse survey – US and Canada
• More positive attitude toward online and hybrid
• 9% don’t ever want to return to in-person classes.
• 1/3 “never want to take another class via Zoom.”
• Quality varies
• European University Association (EUA) Report
• 90% studied on-campus pre-Covid
• Most institutions have a strategy for digitalization (63%), 16% as standalone
• Students have a more positive attitude than staff
• Quality varies

6.
The Blackboard Quality Learning Matrix 2020

7.
Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy Checklist
□ Growth expectations
□ Program selection
process
□ Target student
population (current, new,
degree completers)
□ Technologies, policies,
and processes that
reflect strategy and vision
□ A plan for measuring
success with data
□ Student orientation
program
□ Student retention
strategy (program
and courses)
□ Student support services
□ Multi-channel
communications plan
□ Services and guidelines
for students with limited
or no at-home
connectivity
□ Participation
in professional
development for
teaching online,
hybrid or blended
□ Online instructional
design best practices
□ Resources for ongoing
online teaching
support
□ Plan to remediate
courses brought online
outside of institutional
quality standards
□ Documentation and plan
to implement
accessibility policies
and practices
□ Integration of
synchronous and
asynchronous teaching
strategies
Does my online
strategyand vision
include:
Does my strategic
engagement plan
include:
Does my faculty
development
programinclude:
Does my program
and course refinement
strategyinclude:

8.
Remediation
• Inventory/Standards
• Instructional
Designers
• Faculty PD
• Intellectual Property
• Accessibility

9.
The Future
Personalized/flexible, student-
centered learning
Data-driven and evidence-based
processes and practices
Stronger demand for more fully
online or highly-blended
High quality faculty, courses and
supports, as well as leadership
Explodingmarkets, impact of Brexit,
need for stackable credentials

10.
“Rather than battling over which is better, think of the wider
societal purposes and goals of both universities and
governments: inclusive and lifelong learning; a sustainable
green, circular economy; and a geopolitical aspiration that
focuses on the common global good.”
-Michael Gaebel, Director of Higher Education Policy, EUA

11.
Darcy W Hardy – darcy.hardy@blackboard.com
Let’s Advance Learning
Please join our roundtable session at 4:00 pm today!
Navigating “the new normal.” How educational institutions will survive and evolve.