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OLN Central Ohio Regional Center Faces of Learning Communities

Mission

Through the Learning Communities Initiative (LCI), Ohio Learning Network (OLN) has awarded professional development grants that foster the embedding of technology into teaching and learning. Over the course of three years, 45 learning communities were established at 25 Ohio institutions through grant funds. Each community consists of about 8 to 12 members, including faculty; instructional support personnel; library professionals; K-12 educators; students; and community, national, and international partners. These communities have had a significant impact on teaching and student learning at their institutions.

Now a new network of LCI Regional Centers has been established. In this new partnership, OLN and five Regional Centers will support communities of learners as they innovate, experiment, assess, embed, and share new and effective way to use technology in teaching and learning. Regional Centers will offer grants to learning communities in their regions, disseminate information and resources, network learners across campuses and disciplines, and examine the critical relationship between technology and increased learning. All Regional Centers will provide similar services, yet each will also tailor their services and timelines to meet local needs.

As an OLN Regional Center, we are committed to:

  1. Provide a catalyst and support a pilot framework for the on-going development of pedagogically-robust, technologically-enhanced collegiate programs, courses, modules, and learning objects.

  2. Provide a framework for faculty in Ohio’s institutions of higher education to work together as communities, not only within their institutions, but with other institutions in Ohio, to increase faculty collaboration across disciplines and create more technologically enriched courses and learning resources.

  3. Develop shared learning resources that are portable, scalable, and connected to student competencies. These learning resources will be available through shared state knowledge resources, such as OLN’s OhioLearns! catalog, the OLN website, or OhioLINK’s Digital Media Resource. OLN reserves the right to determine which resources will be selected as well as, in which digital resource each will be housed.

  4. Build a diverse cadre of faculty and learning community consultants who will work and support each other as they address current issues of teaching, learning, and advanced technologies; who will frequently disseminate information and knowledge through virtual and face-to-face state and national venues; and who will support OLN’s Learning Communities Initiative by planning, facilitating and presenting individual sessions at subsequent OLN Learning Institutes