ODU Communication Professors Win Effective Practice Award

Old Dominion University Senior Lecturer Alison Lietzenmayer (M.A. Humanities, 2004), along with fellow faculty members Gary A. Beck, Danielle Jackson and Carla Harrell, received the Effective Practice Award at the 2019 Online Learning Consortium's Accelerate conference. The award honors outstanding efforts to help make quality online education accessible and affordable for all. 

Specifically cited was one of the Department of Communication and Theatre Arts’ teaching tools, the student COMM ePortfolio. 

Lietzenmayer, a Virginia Beach native, transitioned to full-time online instruction for ODU when her partner’s job took them to Seattle. Now she teaches online classes to ODU students all over the country, both on ODU's campus and online.

The ePortfolio is one of the most popular and practical takeaways from Lietzenmayer's classes.

"Students report they are better able to advocate for themselves on the job market, for internship opportunities or for grad school applications,” she said. “They can blend the professional and personal aspects of themselves and present a unique, creative place to their professional network."

The ePortfolio has been integrated into 18 communication courses over the past six years, including Lietzenmayer's core offerings – professional communication and persuasion. These classes are offered online as part of ODU's Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts in Communication degree, which is available as a degree-completion program or a fully online degree.