The American Women’s College at Bay Path University Earns 2018 OLC Digital Learning Innovation Award
The American Women’s College was selected from more than 60 digital courseware initiatives in the Online Learning Consortium’s annual #DLIAward competition.
Longmeadow, MA – The American Women’s College (TAWC) at Bay Path University announced today it has earned the 2018 OLC Digital Learning Innovation Award for advancing undergraduate student success through the adoption of digital courseware. Specifically, TAWC was recognized for "Scaling Adaptive Learning for a Predominantly Low-Income and Diverse Population of Adult Women Undergraduates in a Centralized Course Management Model: Capitalizing on OER Adoptions to Lower Costs and Improve Learning." The University was one of three institutions and 10 faculty-led teams selected from 64 submissions in year three of the Online Learning Consortium’s (OLC) DLIAward competition.
“On behalf of the faculty team at The American Women's College at Bay Path University, we're honored to be recognized for our work with open educational resources in our adaptive course development model among such visionary institutions who are working on the same mission - to enhance student learning in online courses in sustainable, low-cost, evidence-based and scalable ways,” Maura Devlin, Ph.D., Deputy Chief Learning Officer for The American Women's College at Bay Path University, said. “Our course development model has been two years in the making, and I'm grateful for our academic and academic technology staff who have made it a reality.”
Through a four-year FIPSE grant which concluded in September, 2018, TAWC developed and currently offers 51 adaptive courses to all students, while ensuring continued development and implementation will allow it to remain a low-cost tuition option for adult women undergraduates. During course design projects in academic year 2017-2018, TAWC switched from textbooks to OER (Open Educational Resources), which resulted in $176,000 in savings to students. TAWC’s delivery model and commitment to adaptive learning technology has earned a 93% overall satisfaction rate from graduates. Additionally, students have indicated that their adaptive courses have helped them learn course material better (82%) and that the courses and feedback from their instructors helped them stay on track with the learning outcomes (75%). Overall, TAWC’s approach has yielded rates for retention (75%), course completion (93%), and student satisfaction (95%) that surpass national averages.
“The mission of the OLC DLIAwards is to discover student-centered active learning solutions that advance the world of digital learning for all students,” said Kathleen Ives, D.M., CEO and executive director of the Online Learning Consortium. “The awarded projects in this year’s competition truly support this mission and serve as valuable models that other institutions can emulate as they embark on their own digital courseware initiatives.”
The 2018 DLIAwards were presented to honorees on November 13, 2018, during an awards dinner at the OLC Accelerate conference in Orlando, Florida. Awards were determined by two rounds of review, first by a team of institutional-level and higher education organization-level reviewers, who narrowed the field of submissions for final review by a national panel of judges.
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About Bay Path University
Bay Path University was founded in 1897. With locations in Longmeadow (main), East Longmeadow (Philip H. Ryan Health Science Center), Springfield (MA), Sturbridge (MA), and Concord (MA), Bay Path’s innovative program offerings include traditional undergraduate degrees for women, The American Women's College on-ground and online, the first all-women, all-online accredited bachelor’s degree programs in the country; over 30 graduate programs for women and men; and Strategic Alliances, offering professional development courses for individuals and organizations. Bay Path’s goal is to give students confidence in the fundamentals of their chosen field, the curiosity to question the ordinary, the leadership to show initiative, and the desire to make a difference.
About the Digital Learning Innovation Awards
The Online Learning Consortium’s Digital Learning Innovation Award competition recognizes exemplary faculty-led teams and institutions for advancing student success through the adoption of digital courseware.