Online Degrees, Certificates, and Courses

News

University of Illinois Creates Online Master’s Degree for Today’s Marketing and Branding Professional | 7.10.2017
University of Illinois Creates Online Master’s Degree for Today’s Marketing and Branding Professional

Dual curriculum in business and media delivers powerful degree addressing communications challenges facing brands in a digital and data-driven marketplace

July 5, 2017 – This fall, the University of Illinois will launch a new fully online Master of Science in Strategic Brand Communication (SBC), a joint program between the Urbana campus’ College of Business and College of Media.

“Strategic brand communication is about delivering the right message to the right people at the right time without breaks or gaps in communication. The digital marketplace is extremely competitive, which requires professionals to better fundamentally understand how to deliver an innovative, data-driven brand experience that translates to measurable ROI,” said Jacqueline Hitchon, Professor and Head, Department of Advertising. “This degree delivers an innovative combination of topics relevant to and necessary for today’s working marketing and communications professionals.”

The SBC degree, to be offered as a joint program between the Department of Business Administration in the College of Business and the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising in the College of Media, will allow students to gain deeper knowledge of how to strategically lead global brand communications across advertising, media and marketing channels to drive revenue growth.

“It is increasingly important for the world’s premier universities to enable students to earn advanced degrees while working full-time,” said Wojtek Chodko-Zajko, the dean of the Graduate College and the interim dean of the College of Media. “This initiative provides the working professional with a career-accelerating pathway to a highly respected master’s degree in just 15 months.”

The curriculum combines contemporary business management education with the latest in strategic integrated marketing, advertising and multimedia communications. Students will be prepared to:
- Effectively reach and engage consumers through content and messaging.
- Refine data analytics and integrative capabilities to maximize results.
- Respond effectively to new technologies, emerging media and market trends.
- Leverage digital, social media and mobile communications in a broader and more comprehensive business context.
- Acquire senior leadership and management skills to execute strategic success across teams.
“This innovative collaboration taught by world-class faculty from business and media will prepare future brand leaders in the new digital age by offering courses in advertising focused on data analytics, interactive content and consumer insights, combined with business courses in management essentials, leadership and global consumer behavior,” said Dilip Chhajed, a professor of and the executive director of master’s programs in business administration. Students can complete their online degree in 15 months from anywhere in the world while working full time.

In addition to course collaboration in online classes, students will participate in industry workshops with leading executives presenting diverse topics including emerging technology, budgeting and financial management, revenue development, programmatic advertising, multicultural marketing, virtual and augmented reality, and consumer experience.

The preferred application deadline is July 15 to begin the program in August.

About Illinois Online

At the University of Illinois, we continue to lead and explore innovations in higher education that build on our academic reputation and proven strengths in online teaching and learning. Longevity and experience have made us a pioneer and leader in innovative distance and online education, and today, we continue to rethink how technology is integrated into education, regardless of the modality. Our world-renowned faculty and award-winning content developers have worked collaboratively to develop more than 73 online degree and certificate options and more than 800 online courses for learners across the globe.

About Illinois

Founded in 1867, “Illinois,” the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus is among the nation’s top comprehensive public research universities. Illinois remains true to the land-grant mission – to enhance the lives of citizens in Illinois, across the nation, and around the world through leadership in learning, discovery, engagement, and economic development.
Read More.
Introducing the iMSA—Accepting Applications for Fall 2017 | 6.2.2017
Business Instructional Facility (BIF) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The new fully online iMSA, Master of Science in Accountancy is ideal for anyone with an undergraduate foundation in business, economics, data analytics, or accounting, however, no previous business or accounting experience is required. Consistently ranked as a top-three program in the country, an accounting degree from Illinois puts students at the center of business decision-making.

The iMSA is unique and innovative with courses offered in a stackable, flexible and affordable format. Students have several options to get started:
- Engage with the course content with non-credit status
- Enroll in courses for credit prior to committing to apply for admission to the program
- Stack individual for-credit courses into a specialization certificate in Accountancy
- Dive in and apply now to the iMSA Degree and complete in as little as 18 months
Students will build expertise in the fundamentals of accounting – financial reporting, audit and control, and US federal taxation. The iMSA is a hands-on and practice oriented program designed for people already working in the accounting field looking to refresh their skill set, or for those who intend to use the iMSA degree to enter the accounting field for the first time. For more information or to apply now, go to onlineMSA.illinois.edu.
Read More.
Illinois Online Researchers Receive Awards for Excellence | 3.13.2017

Coursera has recognized Illinois with an international award and the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), which recognizes excellence in both individual and institutional achievements, has awarded two awards to the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.

This year’s recipient of the UPCEA International Leadership Excellence Award is Madhu Viswanathan for his work with subsistence marketplaces. His course, Understanding Subsistence Marketplaces, has had profound transformational effects on learners and the communities where they apply their newfound knowledge. In addition, Madhu received the Outstanding Educator Award for Transformation from Coursera. Madhu is the Diane and Steven N. Miller Professor in the College of Business

Researchers from the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning received the UPCEA Research and Scholarship Award. The work of the team, led by Maryalice Wu, Sara Shrader, Dawn Owens, and Kathleen Santa Ana, has been recognized as an innovative model to measure and evaluate online learning and assessment. Their recent published work, “Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS): Participant Activity, Demographics, and Satisfaction” was published in the Journal of Online Learning Consortium. Also on the research team is Dawn Owens and Kathleen Santa Ana. Their findings suggest that in order for MOOCs to reach their full potential in higher education, they must implement pathways for students that are flexible enough to support the full spectrum of learner intent.

Read More.
New Online Master of Science in Strategic Brand Communication | 1.20.2017

A new interdisciplinary graduate degree from the University of Illinois seeks to arm future global brand leaders with the latest methods, techniques and strategies to market, advertise and deliver brand communications across diverse multimedia and technology channels.

Students can complete their online degree in 15 months from anywhere in the world while working full time, so they don’t have to interrupt their career momentum.

Learn more about the revolutionary master's program.

Read More.

Events

Date	Event
8.28.2017	Fall 2017 Term Begins (?)
11.1.2017	MS Health Communication Application Deadline for Spring 2018 (?)
12.1.2017	iMSW Application Deadline for Advanced Standing Students (?)
12.13.2017	Fall 2017 Term Ends (?)
1.15.2018	iMSW Application Deadline (?)

Online Illinois Calendar

Blog

Spotify Playlists to Study to | 8.17.2017
Let’s face it, nobody actually loves to study. Sitting in your room late at night trying to cram for an upcoming exam or attempting to finish that paper in the library you should’ve finished weeks ago… Yeah we’ve all been there. But studying in silence can be even worse, just you and your own jumbled thoughts trying to piece together information. Music to the rescue! Some researchers actually encourage studiers to listen to music because it lightens the mood and may increase productivity and positive feelings.

One very important piece of information that researchers agree on to have the most successful study session; music without lyrics. When songs contain lyrics, your brain is then trying to occupy memory space to remember the words while simultaneously singing along with the song. But have no fear, here is a list of the top five, lyric-free playlists that Spotify has to offer for your study needs!
1. Workday Lounge
  This playlist, created by Spotify, features 108 songs, with over eight hours of music to occupy your studying. And no this isn’t your typical elevator-type music. These tranquil tracks will help you feel at ease and help to stay focused on the material in front of you.
2. Intense Studying
  The most study-friendly classical music for full concentration. This playlist, created by Spotify, features 50 slow-tempo pieces of piano and other orchestra instruments to set a consistent tempo and soundscape for those hard-core studiers. This playlist gets studiers down to business.
3. Superior Study Playlist
  This playlist, created by Taylor Diem, has 800 songs to choose from; yes I said 800! It features modern instrumental tracks to help you focus on studying, with an upbeat mood. You could listen to this playlist all semester and never hear the same song twice!
4. Acoustic Concentration
  Shut out the noise around you with this playlist, created by Spotify, that features 33 acoustic instrumental songs to put you in your happy place when studying. These tracks will set the mood to get lots of studying done!
5. Study Mix (no lyrics)
  Modern songs transformed into beautiful orchestra pieces, say what? If modern music is your thing, then this playlist, created by Morgan Staub, is the one for you! Listen to almost 100 songs from today’s hits including Summertime Sadness, Pompeii, and Some Nights, with the lyrics taken out and played over a quartet of violins. This playlist will not disappoint when studying!
Read More.
How to Manage Time Wisely in Winter Session | 7.18.2017

Starting in winter of 2014, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offered a number of four-week online courses over the winter break. It helps you boost your GPA, graduate early, study remotely and flexibly and enjoy a productive, focused, meaningful winter break. Yet you may wonder if it is manageable to take on a full credit online course over the break. This post will discuss why winter session could be a challenge and how to manage your time wisely in a winter session.

Why Winter Session Can Be a Challenge

The first challenge is that many students do not have online learning experience. 71.5% of undergraduate students in the U.S. did not take any distance education course in 2014 according to U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Online courses require you to take control and study at your own pace by looking at the syllabus thoroughly and to monitor all the deadlines of assignments and quizzes. It also requires you to actively engage in class and interact with classmates and instructors through emails, online discussions and/or web conferences.

The second challenge is that winter break is short and occupied with holiday plans. Students normally stay with their family and friends, sometimes involving travel and work. In addition, most of the winter sessions have the same workload as a 16-week course. It seems impossible to take a full credit course within four to five weeks. Here are some useful tips for you to be successful in an online winter course.

Tip 1 Communicate with Family and Friends

You may have travel plans with your family and friends over the winter break, so it is critical to communicate with them in advance. Tell them you are going to take a winter course before any traveling plans are made. Also let your family and friends know what your schedule looks like, so you won’t be distracted by other activities while trying to study.

Tip 2 Create a Productive Study Environment

Set up a warm, cozy, quiet place where you can be fully engaged in learning. A laptop and high-speed internet are basic technical requirements for an online course (sometimes need a headset and/or microphone). Put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door and silence your phone to stay focused on the course. It is very easy to get distracted by many things, such as a message from your friends or new emails. Therefore, it is important to take an online course as serious as a face-to-face course.

Mark Your Calendar with All Due Activities

Use the calendar application to link your smart phone and mark important dates in the calendar, such as assignments, quizzes, and exam deadlines. Schedule your daily activities according to the deadline. Prioritize the learning tasks in your to-do list. Google Calendar is a free and useful mobile app to keep you on track.

Study Ahead

You will notice that some assignments or exam deadlines may fall on or near Christmas or New Years, and the solution is to study ahead. Most of the course material including readings, discussion topics, assignments and quizzes are open at the beginning of the winter session which makes it possible to study ahead. For example, if you are planning to take trip on a certain week during the break, you might want to study one week ahead before traveling so when you return you will be caught up on all material covered.

Ask for Help Immediately

Never hesitate to ask for help from your instructor or a Teaching Assistant. It is fully understandable that technical and pedagogy issues could happen to anyone. Shooting an email or sending a notice through Moodle or Blackboard is pretty effortless. Never hesitate to ask any questions or wait until the last minute, especially during holiday break.

Managing your time wisely can be rewarding not only for a winter session course, but also for life-long career options. I hope that these tips above can help you be successful in a Winter Session! Any other study tips? Please share your comments with us!

Resources:

Digest of Education Statistics(Table 311.15, Rep.). (2015). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

Read More.

Roadmap to Group Project Success in Online Classes | 7.13.2017

Cheng Li Round 2-Roadmap

“It’s not fair that I spend more time than others in my group, and yet still get the same score on my group project!” How many times have we heard someone complain about a group project in an online class? Working on a project in a group can be either rewarding or frustrating as data collected from online courses suggests. The outcome really depends on how the group works together.

In this blog I want to share with you, someone who is interested in taking an online course with a group project, or who has taken an online course with a group project, a viable road map to a successful group project in an online course. I hope that by reading this blog, you will be better prepared for the next group project in online classes.

Meet as a group at the beginning
The first step towards a successful group project is to get to know your group members at the beginning. Developing personal relationships helps to build trust among the group. As observed in many dysfunctional groups, lack of trust is the fundamental issue that causes the group to fall apart.

Nowadays, online courses usually offer ways of communication for group projects. In Compass (or Blackboard), it offers Blackboard Collaborate, an online conferencing tool that allows synchronous communication (both video and audio). Alternatively, third party tools are available too, such as Google Hangouts, or Skype. Or if your group members are all locally on campus, meeting in person is not a bad choice either.

When meeting as a group, keep it causal for the introduction part. It helps create an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable. Some simple icebreaker activities can lead off to an agreeable group environment.
Set ground rules upfront
When first meeting as a group, one important task to accomplish is to establish ground rules as a group. For example, members of the group may come from different cultural backgrounds. If that’s the case for your group, respect everyone’s opinion and take cultural differences into consideration when presenting and exchanging ideas. Members from non-native English speaking countries may have difficulty speaking English. In that circumstance, it’s important to slow the pace of speaking to make sure everyone understands.

Roger Schwarz, the author of The Skilled Facilitator, shared 9 ground rules for effective groups:
1. Test assumptions and inferences
2. Share all relevant information
3. Use specific examples and agree on what important words mean
4. Explain your reasoning and intent
5. Focus on interests, not positions
6. Combine advocacy and inquiry
7. Jointly design next steps and ways to test disagreements
8. Discuss undiscussable issues
9. Use a decision-making rule that generates the level of commitment needed
Meeting or Check-In Progress Weekly
Although weekly meetings are highly recommended for a group project in online courses, this option is not always viable for every group. The bottom line, though, is to make sure the group checks in on the project on a weekly basis, either synchronously or asynchronously. It’s a good practice for each group member to share contacts, whether it’s email, phone or text.

Establish Key Milestones and Schedule

More often than not, group projects are a final deliverable that’s broken down into several components or parts, stretched across a semester or a long period of time. Each component or part may have a designated deadline for delivery (presenting or submitting). Because of the very nature of group projects, the group should establish key milestones that align with the various components of the final deliverable, and set a timeline for each milestone.

As an example, the table below is a sample milestone breakdown and timetable for a group report project. The group decides that for each component, it should be reviewed/approved by each group member. Hence a key milestone for each component is to review/approve the component on a certain date before the submission deadline of the component.

Components	Milestone: Draft	Milestone: Group Review	Submission Deadline
Introduction	1/5	1/6-7	1/8
Initial Proposal	1/19	1/20-21	1/22
Report Draft	2/8	2/9-10	N/A (Draft Revision Based on Group Feedback)
Final Report Presentation	Group Review by 2/12 and Prep for Presentation 2/13		2/15

Divide and Conquer
Each group member has their strengths and weaknesses. Assigning roles to each group member is a widely used strategy in group project. By taking responsibility, each group member is held accountable to one puzzle of the project. Although divide and conquer is widely used, sometimes it leads to the group falling apart. In most cases, the reason is that the role of each group member is not clearly defined or well-articulated. When it comes to gray areas where multiple group members could be involved and responsible for, it becomes unclear who should be doing it. Often times, grade fairness becomes arguable among group members. To be even worse, the group stops cooperating, and then falls apart.

To avoid that awkward situation from happening, it is wise to invest time up front to define and articulate each member’s roles. For example, group member A serves as the leader role, who is in charge of organizing the meeting agenda, keeping track of project progress and other logistics. Whereas group member B, could serve as a group discussion moderator, who’s in charge of moderating group discussion, and summarizing meeting notes.

By carefully articulating and assigning roles, each group member shares responsibility for the entire project.
Don’t Be Afraid of Group Projects!

Lastly, don’t be afraid of a group project in an online course even if you’ve had a bad experience with it before. Admittedly, group work is not only a challenge for a school project, but also a challenge for a big company. Group projects are a dynamic entity where each group member should work together and continue to seek solutions for any barriers encountered. Just like Rome is not built in a day, neither is a group!

Finally, to make group projects sound less intimidating and more fun, here is an interesting video from Tom Wujec who presented at Ted Talk about his research into the “marshmallow problem” – a simple team-building exercise that asks a team of 4 to 5 people to build a tower with spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string and one marshmallow where the marshmallow has to be on top. The result, you will find in this video, is a big surprise. Enjoy and leave a comment below on what you think is the most effective group project strategy: https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower#t-16171.

References:

Roger Schwarz, Group Rules for Effective Groups, retrieved from https://is.muni.cz/el/1423/podzim2010/HEN572/um/13._SchwarzGroundRules.pdf
Large Group Games, retrieve from http://www.icebreakers.ws/large-group
Tom Wujec: Build a tower, build a team, https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower#t-16171

University of Illinois ILLINOIS ONLINE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

New iMSA Online Program

New Master of Science in Strategic Brand Communication

New Master of Computer Science in Data Science

News

Events

Blog

Further Readings