Humanizing The Online User Experience

Humanizing the Online User Experience means focusing on student needs inside and outside of the classroom – for both traditional and post-traditional students. There has been an increased emphasis on engagement in online classes and scaling virtual support services, but how institutions are approaching this has been necessity-based, rather than strategically thought-through. The resulting impacts of the pandemic to education provide an opportunity to steer the conversation to redesigning the entire student experience around the student. The time is right to leverage a change in delivery modality for services and education into a culture change movement of how to create lasting, student-centric online experiences.

Sasha Thackaberry has been engaged in online learning for over 15 years, having served in roles at Southern New Hampshire University, Cuyahoga Community College, non-profits and K-12 schools in addition to consulting for corporations and educational institutions. She is the Chair of WCET’s Executive Council, on the National Council for Online Education, and is a member of the 7 Things Advisory Committee for EDUCAUSE. She regularly speaks and publishes in the field.