The Distance Education and Media Development (DEMD) department of Columbia International University is the winner of two national awards for innovative online learning. 

The Course-of-the-Year Awards are sponsored by ACCESS, the Christian Distance Education Association, and Christianity Today International, in recognition of excellence in Christian distance education course development. Courses are reviewed by a team of instructional designers from Christian universities and seminaries.  Judging is based on instructional design, media/materials development, and learner support. 

CIU’s newly developed graduate-level course “Foundations of Spiritual Formation” was recognized for blending face-to-face teaching and learning with online technologies.  It was developed by Professor Dr. Shirl Schiffman and was commended for its excellent forum interaction, video quality, webinars, “strong social presence” and “interactive credibility.”  The course was augmented by the video production of Ken Summerall, the production manager for DEMD.   

The second CIU course recognized was “Apologetics,” an undergraduate-level course designed by Professor Dr. Daniel Janosik.  It also combines traditional classroom learning with online technology.  “Apologetics” was recognized for its scope of content and for the “motivational format of instruction” as well as the “combination of media and appropriate hybrid teaching methods.”

The awards were presented to CIU at the 40^th Annual ACCESS Conference hosted by Moody Bible Institute in Chicago on March 9, 2011.