The Arts and Digital Media Division continues to expand and improve distance education offerings in a variety of disciplines. In the Creative Writing department, ACC students can earn an Associates of Arts degree entirely through online classes, in traditional face-to-face classes, or in a combination of the two.
One of the keys to implementing successful online classes is interactivity, according to Charlotte Gullick, Professor and Department Chair of Creative Writing. Professor Gullick says that she was inspired to create weekly orientation videos in her online class using Vid Grid, a popular educational video platform, based on a student suggestion. According to Professor Gullick, “Students seem to love the 15-minute videos I make. Next semester, I hope to use Voice Thread to make videos where I discuss student writing, which can supplement the written feedback I give them. I’m excited to see if the interactive options available within Voice Thread will be used by my students to ask me questions or make comments themselves.”
Guided by ACC’s Strategic Plan, one of ACC Chancellor Richard Rhodes’ 2020-2021 priorities is to provide an exceptional online education for ACC students. This includes focusing on equitable access, decreasing the digital divide by increasing student support, and also by ensuring that all online classes meet Quality Matters standards. Quality Matters (QM) is a nationally-recognized, research-based standard for online instruction. The goal of QM is to improve the learning experiences of students engaged in distance education.
The Creative Writing courses English 2307: Beginning Creative Writing (multiple genres: memoir, fiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting) and English 2341: Forms of Literature for Creative Writers, have both been certified by the Quality Matters process. Professor Gullick says that “The primary reason that students benefit from having our courses QM certified concerns consistency of experience. Prior to QM, each instructor designed and laid out their individual course according to their own preferences and past experience as distance learning students themselves. This meant that students had to get oriented to unique design and organization. Now, with consistent design and organizational elements, students can focus on learning the material and engaging with each other rather than having to spend essential time at the beginning of the semester getting oriented to the course layout.”
With a stellar faculty team and a variety of QM-certified courses, the Creative Writing department is establishing an exceptional online educational experience for ACC students.
