What Is the Flex Gazette?

What Is Flex?

Eastern University's LifeFlex program is a fully online, asynchronous set of undergraduate and graduate programs offered in 7 week terms. This model uses technology to deliver faith-informed, high-quality online education at an affordable price.

Why Do We Need a Newsletter?

Online education differs from on-ground education, which means effective usage of technology and educational best practices is essential.

Our online students aren't an afterthought; on the contrary, they're a crucial piece of why Eastern is thriving, and they deserve a great learning environment.

Creating a great learning environment for the Flex Program is a collaborative effort between the program and department chairs, course builders, lecturers, faculty, and instructional design team. No matter what position you're in, we hope this newsletter can give you some helpful tips and maybe even inspire you to share your own successes using technology to inspire and facilitate learning!

What Is the Flex Gazette?

The Flex Gazette is a newsletter that publishes once every term, with an article for each area of the CTLT: Teaching, Learning, and Technology. The Flex Gazette focuses on a few primary goals:

1. Reducing Confusion for Instructors

   In the Flex Program, we embrace rapidly shifting technologies, tackle policy changes, and constantly learn new ways to adapt. This means that instructors who teach alternating semesters, take leave or sabbatical, or otherwise skip a semester of teaching may miss important information. Reading the Flex Gazette will keep you up to date with the Flex Program's policies and technologies.

   Have a question for the CTLT that you want answered in our Q&A's page? Submit it here!

2. Encouraging the Use of Educational Best Practices

   The instructional designers in the CTLT keep up-to-date on the latest learning technologies and practices. This newsletter is partly to share new technologies and techniques as they develop, so instructors can be on top of their game.

3. Sharing Success Stories

   Success stories benefit everyone. At the CTLT, we want to encourage instructors to uplift each other and share ways they have adapted to the Flex model. Whether it's a technique to make lectures more engaging, a resource repository, or a positive interaction with students, we'd love to share your story in the Flex Gazette.

What Is the Flex Course Development Timeline?

Looking to build a new course? The Flex Course Development Timeline, shown below, is a chart that shows each of the three main due dates for a new Flex course based on the desired launch term. Flex coursebuilders should begin the process of creating their course (including starting FLEX 120, our Flex training program) on the Start Development date.