Page 24 - 2020 OIT Progress Report

Next, the OPS team secured a talented staff of full-time course designers and has optimized the team’s consultative and course-development processes and service levels to ensure that all team members possess appropriate certifications and credentials to help faculty. This team of course designers immediately got to work helping SMU Global & Online and the Lyle School of Engineering complete and launch several inaugural courses in SMU’s first in-house developed fully online master’s degree program, a Master’s in Cybersecurity. Additionally, the OPS design unit assisted SMU to
develop and deliver
the school’s first fully-
online orientation
courses for graduate
and undergraduate
students—as well as
partnered with the
Center for Teaching
Excellence to design
and to facilitate a remarkable in-house summer online teaching and technology training series for faculty. “This term contains more virtual instruction than any traditional Fall term,” said Dr. Culver, “and the OPS team stands ready to support faculty at any stage of virtual instruction.” OPS’ course designers help SMU faculty develop strong digital courses and media content that meet specific learning outcomes and engage students in the learning process.
Finally, the OPS team continues to expand and improve studio-based multimedia course development services. While working from a provisional studio space, the team’s two full-time media developers continue to produce high-quality video and multimedia content for fully online courses, and are also supplying more services to meet increasing videography needs across campus.
Online Production Services continues to diversify the methodologies by which Academic Technology Services provides not just technical support
to faculty, but partnerships in leveraging technology and people to support high-quality digital teaching. In the year ahead, OPS will continue to deliver necessary support for digital SMUFlex and fully virtual courses—helping faculty across campus sustain SMU’s tradition of world-class instruction.
This term contains more virtual instruction than any traditional Fall term, and the OPS team stands ready to support faculty at any stage of virtual instruction.
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