Purdue online educators win awards from top association

Three Purdue online education efforts captured major awards Nov. 16 from the Online Learning Consortium, calling national attention to Purdue's contributions.

The awards were given during the OLC Accelerate conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

The award winners were:

* Jennifer Richardson, professor of curriculum and instruction in the College of Education. Richardson shared the 2017 OLC Online Learning Journal Outstanding Research Award in Online Education. She also won the 2017 Purdue Digital Education Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award this spring.

* John LaMaster, senior instructor of mathematical sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. LaMaster won the 2017 OLC Excellence and Innovation Award. This spring, he also won the 2017 Purdue Digital Education Innovative Course Design Award.

* Bart Collins, clinical professor of communications in the Brian Lamb School of Communication and director of the school's Online Graduate Program. The Master of Science in Communications program was one of two recipients of the 2017 OLC John R. Bourne Outstanding Online Program Award. The program has over 450 graduate students, making it the largest master’s degree program on campus.

“Such a high level of recognition for our faculty and programs from OLC is a reflection of the quality and impact of digital education programs and research across the Purdue system,” said Jon Harbor, executive director of digital education. “In several ways, Purdue has emerged as a national leader in innovation and impact in online learning.”

The Online Learning Consortium serves to recognize institutions and educators improving the quality, scale and breadth of online education.

Writer: Kelsey Schnieders Lefever, kschnied@purdue.edu
Source: Robin Cunningham, associate director, degree and professional education, rebell@purdue.edu