University selected as site for new online education learning center

University selected as site for new online education learning center

Bowling Green State University (BGSU), a fully accredited school that offers over 500 online courses, has recently been selected as the site for the new Ohio Learning Network (OLN) Center for Excellence in E-Learning.

The OLN Center will be launched in the spring and will provide support, training and development for the online education community in Ohio.

The Ohio Board of Regents has allocated $80,000 to BGSU for staffing and small grants that will support quality assurance projects in the state's online education sector.

Director of the center Connie Molnar believes the selection "will benefit BGSU by drawing even more attention to the quality and diversity of its online programs, and giving [the] faculty the recognition they deserve for innovative instruction that maintains the integrity and rigor of their curricula."

Meanwhile, the Ohio Board of Regents has assembled a strategic planning group that is in the process of creating a 10-year plan to expand access to online education throughout the state.

Online education has been hailed as a cheaper and more flexible instruction option that allows adult learners such as busy parents or working professionals to earn a degree without interrupting their lives.