We recently had the opportunity to sit down with one of SMU’s Online Learning Experience Designers, Prerna Munoth, to learn about her efforts to improve online course development at SMU. Prerna collaborates with faculty to transform traditional offline courses into synchronous and asynchronous online courses using quality measures outlined by the Quality Matters (QM) framework. One of her primary goals is to make online courses more interactive and engaging for students.
To achieve this, Prerna has evaluated many online learning tools and technologies that can be integrated into Canvas. PlayPosit, an interactive video platform, and Powtoon, an animation tool, are two tools previously evaluated by Prerna and the Academic Technology team, which are now used to enhance course content and increase student engagement.
“As an Instructional Designer, my job is two-fold, one is to make engaging and interactive courses for students using many tools and instructional design processes, and the other is to empower faculty and equip them with best practices and tools to be successful in their online teaching journey.”, explained Prerna.
She, along with other members of the Academic Technology team, review applications for potential integration and determines compatibility, privacy policy adherence, and cost-effectiveness.
Prerna works on several different course builds at any given time and is working on streamlining project management processes so that the team can effectively track progress, update statuses, and improve communication with faculty on the course development process.
Interested in packaging a course for online delivery?
Faculty members interested in revising or creating online courses can reach out to SMU Global and Online Education or the instructional design team directly. An advisory committee will then assess requests and determine each project’s feasibility based on available capacity and timeline requirements.
SMU continues to enhance our course design through the expertise of our Academic Technology team. Their focus on accessibility, student-centered design, and faculty support, highlights SMU’s commitment to providing high-quality online education.
