HETS Professional Learning Programs Highlight the Value of Digital Learning for Today’s Learners

To illustrate the value of digital education, Yubelkys Montalvo points to the two different graduate school experiences she had. When she pursued her master’s degree back in 1998, she had the difficulty of juggling work and school while in a program that didn’t provide digital learning options. But as a doctoral student in 2015, digital education tools made scheduling more flexible and getting a degree more accessible.

For 26 years, Montalvo has been Executive Director of Hispanic Education Technology Services (HETS), a consortium that works to support education access and success for all students, with special focus on Hispanic and Latino students.

Digital tools and processes like those that benefited Montalvo are the focus of two new professional development services HETS is offering to higher education institutions. Each is presented as a series of asynchronous and synchronous digital workshops to help faculty use digital learning more effectively.

“I have been a witness to the transformation of education and the importance of doing digital learning in the proper way,” Montalvo says. “And these workshops can help you use technology in a way that gives your students the opportunity to get a formal education, and makes a difference in their life and achievement.”

HETS is one of several Every Learner Everywhere network partners that provide technical assistance to support colleges and universities as they advance student-centered, faculty-powered, and institution-driven improvement through digital learning. Also offering these services with Every Learner Everywhere are Achieving the Dream, the Association of Public & Land-grant Universities, and the Online Learning Consortium.

Building foundational knowledge

The new services HETS has developed focus on foundational concepts in active learning as well as tips for leveraging the tools and technology that can make digital instruction effective. Each of the services is an eight-week format with opportunities for collaboration with other participants and question-and-answer sessions with instructors.

The services include the following:

• Active Learning: Case Studies, Problem-Based Learning, Project-Based Learning, and Cooperative Learning — This program examines four instructional methodologies that support dynamic and interactive learning. Educators learn how to use active learning through case studies, problem-based learning, project-based learning, and cooperative learning to encourage student engagement.
• Digital Teaching: Leveraging Digital Learning Tools and Resources to Increase Online Student Interaction and Improve Student Learning Outcomes — In this program, participants explore effective approaches for using technology in their instruction. They focus on how to incorporate digital media and develop digital content to accommodate diverse backgrounds and abilities to improve the educational environment.

Supporting all institutions

Montalvo says about 90 percent of the institutions HETS works with in support of its mission are Hispanic-Serving Institutions. But the organization’s training through Every Learner is open to all U.S. colleges and universities, regardless of the type of institution and the population of students they serve.

“In the end, the faculty, staff, and administrators who participate in the courses have one thing in common,” she says. “They need to know how to use new technologies and how to maximize their use to help students achieve their academic goals.”

The courses are led by digital learning experts who HETS works with regularly, from the United States and Puerto Rico. They address not only how instructors and students can use technology, but also how to ensure that all students can take advantage of the benefits that digital learning provides.

Related reading — Meet Our New Partner: HETS Illuminates the Intersection of Hispanic Culture and Digital Learning

Addressing a need

HETS has hosted instructional best practices showcases annually since 2010. During those events, presentations about digital learning and the integration of technology draw the biggest crowds. Montalvo says the demand for professional development on how to use digital instruction in a way that improves learning has been particularly pronounced since the COVID-19 pandemic forced educators to rely on more digital tools in their courses.

“Now institutions don’t see digital learning as an alternative,” she says. “It’s almost not just optional anymore. But not everyone was trained on how to use this type of learning the proper way.”

The courses HETS offers through Every Learner address the same type of subject matter that has attracted such interest at the showcases. They explore how any institution can leverage digital tools and processes to support diverse groups of learners and strengthen important future-ready skills like digital literacy and critical thinking.

The lessons of the courses are impactful, Montalvo says, but just as important for the faculty, staff, and administrators who participate is the experience of being a learner in a digital environment.

“Everything that we do is with the students in mind,” she says. “And the online  courses give you the perspective of your students. They give you a sensitivity when you start designing a course, that you should take certain things into consideration that are not necessarily happening when you have your students face to face.”