NCU Learner Terry Morris receives 2008 Outstanding e-Learning Faculty Award from the Instructional Technology Council

Prescott Valley, Arizona—January 22, 2008 — Northcentral University (www.ncu.edu), an innovator in 100% online higher education, announced today that the Instructional Technology Council has chosen NCU Learner Terry Ann Morris as recipient of its 2008 Outstanding e-Learning Faculty Award. Ms. Morris is Associate Professor at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois and a doctoral Learner in the school of education at NCU.

"We are very proud of Terry Morris and quite pleased that one of our Learners has earned this prestigious award,” said NCU president Dr. Clinton Gardner. “As a professionally engaged adult learner," he added, "Ms. Morris is in many ways emblematic of the NCU student population.”

A Learner at NCU since January 2006, Morris credits NCU with helping her in her work. “My course work at NCU has provided me with many ideas and insights that have contributed to my success in teaching online,” she says. Pursuing an EdD with a specialization in E-Learning and Online Teaching, Morris is just over half way to earning her doctorate.

“As a doctoral learner at NCU, my coursework has provided me with many ideas and insights which have contributed to my success in teaching online,” commented Morris. “The combination of research, reflection, and application has improved both my understanding and practice of e-learning pedagogy. I've applied e-learning activities developed for my NCU coursework in the online courses that I teach — deepening the engagement of learners and increasing their course participation.”

Morris also praises specific members of the NCU community for their individual contributions, adding, “The supportive (and sometimes inspiring) feedback provided by NCU mentors — especially Dr. Aaron Givan, Dr. Susan LeBeau, Dr. Troy Robinson, Dr. Amy Peterson, Kit Keller, and Dr. Peter Kiriakidis — has served as a model for my own communication with students.”

The Instructional Technology Council, based in Washington, D.C., was founded in 1977 to provide “leadership, information and resources to expand and enhance distance learning through the effective use of technology.” The Outstanding e-Learning Faculty award, won by Ms. Morris, is one of eight honors bestowed annually by the organization.

The ITC award is not the first time Morris has been recognized by a national organization. In 2006, she earned the Greenhouse Exemplary Online Course Award. (See archived story here.) She also was recognized on her home turf for teaching excellence when Harper College honored her with the Glenn A. Reich Memorial Award for Instructional Technology.

In addition, Addison-Wesley has just published the 4th edition of a popular textbook authored by Morris—Web Development & Design Foundations with XHTML—a book the World Organization of Webmasters has designated a recommended learning resource for the WOW Certified Web Designer Associate (CWDSA) Certification Exam.

Morris welcomes visitors to her public website at http://terrymorris.net