Episode 17: Supporting Pedagogy with Technology feat. Kelly Otter, Dean, School of Continuing Studies at Georgetown University
Georgetown University in Washington, DC is the oldest Catholic Jesuit institution in the United States. As an educator, Kelly Otter, Dean of Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies (SCS), believes in the Jesuit concept of cura personalis, or care for the whole person, as it applies to higher education. She believes that educators have a responsibility to provide accessibility, affordability, and inclusivity in education.
In this episode of Illuminate Higher Education, Kelly joins Kiran to discuss how Georgetown is meeting the needs of its unique population of adult learners. Before coming to Georgetown in 2014, she served in academic dean roles at Northeastern University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the College of New Rochelle. She also held academic administration roles at New York University.
Read the brief Q&A below for highlights from the conversation, then listen to the full podcast for all the details.
Q: At Georgetown SCS, what do you do differently when it comes to creating an engaging online class?
Georgetown University is a research-based institution that is finding itself reflecting on this past year and thinking about how we can do our work better. From my perspective, my school was set up to be able to pivot and adapt relatively easily. For years, we have developed online programs with partners and built internal infrastructure to support remote learning. While we have classrooms for our adult professional learners, more and more students began opting for online options even before the pandemic—nearly half of our 3,000 students.
When we went completely virtual, we created new remote options to replace in-person classes. People now know that online learning can be done well. Our faculty spend about 100 hours developing an online course over several months with the support of instructional design teams, instructional technologists, videographers, editors. We intentionally design multi-modal, interactive environments with audio and video content and synchronous and asynchronous learning paths.
The key is going back to the basics of what excellent teaching and learning are. We need dedicated teachers who are engaged, interact with students, and create opportunities for students to grapple with material and ideas, develop skills, and demonstrate skills in social and team environments. Technology facilitates the work that goes on between teacher and student.
Q: Where are we falling short in supporting veterans pursuing higher education?
The United States veteran population often falls into the category of first-generation learners. Military life is highly structured and hierarchical. We have found that when students leave the military, the path from military life to civilian education is not transparent. It is challenging to figure out college applications, credit transfers, and financial aid. Some educational recruiters would not explain how GI Bill money was being spent. They need support simply navigating the process of getting an education.
As educators, we need to do a better job of helping translate the kind of work veterans do in the military to competencies that are valuable in the workplace. We need to look holistically at actual skills and competencies. We can give them a language to position themselves, articulate their work experience, and frame it in a way that makes sense for the next education or career step.
Q: Competency-based education is an important concept, especially when it comes to preparing students for the workforce. What does it mean for you and your work with Georgetown SCS?
At Georgetown, competency-based education is a little different. I put together a model for our graduate professional programs that allows us to examine and evaluate every program based on market research, labor statistics and trends, education statistics and trends, highly sought-after skills and abilities, and other sources of external data. We use all that data to design a curriculum that aligns learning goals and outcomes with the needs of jobs and economic sectors.
The programs are never “done.” Needs for different skills and abilities are constantly in flux. Professionally oriented education must be integrated with the professional needs of employers. We graduate students with portfolios that demonstrate high-level competencies in fields like analytics, high-level communications, global awareness, ethics, and more. Employers recognize that our students have those competencies, so hiring our graduates is less of a risk.
Listen to the full episode for more of Kelly’s perspectives.
Learn more about Kelly Otter on LinkedIn, Twitter @KellyOtter, and Instagram @Kelly_Otter. Read her publications, including the Ozzy Osbourne article, here.
Visit scs.georgetown.edu to explore Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies.
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