Who We Are
Digital Education is responsible for shaping the online learning portfolio strategy and developing credit and non-credit online courses and learning experiences so that students, wherever they are, can access essential and relevant education from the College of Agricultural Sciences and Penn State Extension.
What We Do
We manage the digital education portfolio for the College of Agricultural Sciences. We partner with units and departments, including faculty, educators, and staff, to serve as a strategic partner focused on developing online learning strategies and experiences that accomplish shared goals. We foster a collaborative relationship with subject matter experts and promote best practices in the use of digital technologies for online education to create high-quality experiences that promote learner engagement and success.
Our Team
Digital Education consists of two teams, one focused on academic online courses for undergraduate and graduate students, and the other focused on non-credit online courses and other online learning experiences for Penn State Extension audiences. Both teams are composed of instructional designers, instructional design assistants, and multimedia specialists. The teams work together to further the online education vision for the college.
Initiative
Initiatives are larger efforts that often require heavy resources and are designed to make significant impact on college and unit marketing and operational goals. Initiatives receive an alignment score based on a set of criteria that allow us to better prioritize. Some of the criteria include client impact, estimated project length, and impact on operational and financial performance.
Initiatives will go through 5 phases:
- Idea: The initiative has been accepted by the unit and is currently backlogged.
- Planning: The initiative has been identified as a goal for the upcoming fiscal year.
- On Deck: The initiative is currently being scoped and will be active within 3 months.
- In Progress: The initiative is active, and the project team is completing work.
- Complete: All deliverables/outputs are finished, and the project is complete.
Project
Projects require collaboration across multiple teams to provide a product, client deliverable, or marketing asset for a broader campaign.
Projects will go through 4 phases:
- Idea: The project has been accepted by the unit and is currently backlogged.
- In Progress - Pending Approval: The project is being reviewed and staffed by the appropriate team leads.
- In Progress: The project is active, and the project team is completing work.
- Complete: All deliverables/outputs are finished, and the project is complete.
Request
A request submitted through our public, client-facing request queues are routed to specific teams or individuals depending on the selected topic. A request can either be converted to a project or assigned to a specific team member, who will complete and close the request.
Requests will go through 3 phases:
- New: The request has been submitted and the team has 3 days to accept and assign the work.
- In Progress: The request is active, and the assignee(s) are completing work.
- Complete: All deliverables/outputs are finished, and the request is complete.
This collection of dashboards will show upcoming, active, and completed work within the Digital Education Unit.
