When Alex Gainer decided to collaborate with the course design team in Online Learning and Continuing Education (OCE) to upgrade his online economics classes, he never anticipated the process would be so enjoyable or the results so impressive – so much so that it has received international recognition. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gainer transitioned his ECON 101: Introduction to Microeconomics and ECON 102: Introduction to Macroeconomics courses to online delivery. As demand for online classes continued to rise post-pandemic, Gainer and his teaching assistant Kianna Kozak teamed up with the OCE course design team (instructional designer Kaila Simoneau, learning experience developer Sam Walker and project manager Tanya McPherson) to enhance his online offerings. The design process proved to be more rigorous and engaging than Gainer expected. “It was very intense at times,” he explains. “But it’s a really fun team to work with.”
