By Mack Olmsted, Features Editor
Manhattan College plans to expand digital and online education through the newly hired executive director of online learning, Ann M. Clarkson. Clarkson joined the MC community in March and looks forward to progressing the college.
Clarkson’s job entails leading the instructional design and management of all online learning for the college in conjunction with the deans, department chairs, students and faculty.
According to manhattan.edu, “Ms. Clarkson brings in-depth experience in developing and managing all facets of professional programming and has a career of over two decades dedicated to revolutionizing adult and online education at several institutions of higher learning.”
The college is interested in improving and expanding its use of online education as well as using its tools to reach more students and use the technology more effectively within its current structure. Clarkson, along with her team, aims to provide guidance and support for faculty on what technological resources are available, and how they might choose to use them.
“From my discussions with Milo [Riverso] and Rani [Roy], they are very interested in creating an environment that is heavily dependent on the current faculty of the college and illustrating their expertise in their field, as well as their teaching expertise,” Clarkson said. “My efforts right now are to find out what’s been working, what hasn’t been working, what their interests are, as far as what programs they want to offer and work with them to determine what the best format will be for them to use.”
Quality assurance manager, and a member of Clarkson’s online learning team Kimberly Gargiulo wrote to The Quadrangle about her excitement to work with Clarkson at the college.
“I am so glad we have Ann Clarkson on board to lead online learning at the college,” Gargiulo stated in an email. “Ann has developed hundreds of online programs throughout her career and understands how to offer rigorous, interactive and exciting curricula through the online modality. Ann champions and values a faculty-centered approach when it comes to the design and implementation of online learning.”
Roy explained her excitement about Clarkson and believes she will be an influential addition to the campus, as stated in an article published on manhattan.edu.
“We are particularly thrilled to have Ann as part of our team and the lead in developing more comprehensive online programs for all our students, with a particular emphasis on students in our non-degree programs,” Roy stated in the article. “Ann has demonstrated strength in creating a sense of community through her programs and we also welcome her focus on bringing business CEOs to our campus through her executive outreach skills.”
Clarkson wants to create an environment that makes teaching easier for faculty while using technology to produce more successful lessons. She explained how she wants to build new online programs with the intent not to switch the college to being an online school, but rather offer alternate approaches for specific courses, and degrees to new students.
Clarkson told The Quadrangle that she and her team have a lot of work to be done, and want to build a base with faculty and work with them as a community to improve the online programs that are being implemented.
In the future, Clarkson wants to create different online modes than that of other educational institutions. She mentioned it’s important that the online programs are taught in a faculty-driven environment using their expertise, and not just canned material that anybody can log into.
Clarkson is trying to make sure that any future online education modalities that are used with the student body are accessible. She explained that her work is a continuous improvement process and that she strives to build up online programs.
“Online learning can offer alternative learning pathways for the faculty and students either in individual cases or with the entire student body itself,” Clarkson said. “It’s a modernization in some respects, not in all respects, but it’s a new market really. Technology evolves. So our courses should evolve as well.”