Lifetime Education and Innovation

Create and share new knowledge to advance lifetime education

Advancing lifetime education means creating and sharing new knowledge with our learners, campus partners, and peers in higher education. Symposia on delivering degrees-at-scale, learner behavior research, and a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant are among the highlights in 2018.

Academic Master Plan

In the spring, Georgia Tech unveiled its roadmap for the future of higher education. The report, Deliberate Innovation, Lifetime Education is based on the work of the Georgia Tech Commission on Creating the Next in Education (CNE) and presents a bold vision of the university of tomorrow that commits to serving learners of all ages throughout their lives. Because of GTPE’s focus on lifetime learners, which is the fastest-growing learner population in higher education, GTPE and Dean Nelson Baker have been involved in this initiative since its conception in 2015.

Degrees-at-Scale Symposium

Georgia Tech is seen as a thought leader in delivering online degrees-at-scale, and GTPE holds an annual symposia to share knowledge with peers about bringing affordable world-class online education to thousands of learners worldwide. Last fall, GTPE’s Affordable Degrees-at-Scale Symposium, led by Yakut Gazi, associate dean of learning systems, brought together more than 80 top-level administrators from 25 institutions.

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Speakers sitting a front of room. One speaker is holding microphone to talk while others look at her.

Insights on Learners

Providing a meaningful service to our learners requires understanding their needs and learning behaviors. Several research projects, in collaboration with C21U, are under way to enable us to draw deep insights about our learners. Stephen Harmon, associate dean of research at GTPE, explored who our learners are, how they learn now, and how they will learn in the future in a presentation to GTPE staff in September 2018.

Advanced Learning Ecosystems

Thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), GTPE and the Center for 21st Century Universities (C21U) hosted the summit on Scalable Advanced Learning Ecosystems (SALE). The event was held in the Global Learning Center this November and brought together leaders in higher education and educational technology from all over the world to explore ways to create effective, sustainable, and scalable educational environments, also known as SALE (Scalable Advanced Learning Ecosystems).

Attendees in amphitheater at SALE
Leading Adult Learning
One of GTPE's goals is to create and share knowledge to advance lifetime education. We pursue this goal by leading and contributing our expertise to external organizations that serve adult learners. In addition to our executive leadership team, many of our employees are also active on many fronts to shine the spotlight GTPE and its contributions to lifetime education. View GTPE employee contributions.
Nelson Baker, dean of professional education
Nelson C. Baker, Ph.D.
Dean, Professional Education

Secretary-general for the International Association for Continuing Engineering Education (IACEE) and President-elect of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA).

Yakut Gazi, associate dean of learning systems
Yakut Gazi, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Learning Systems

Member of Quality Matters Academic Advisory Committee, International Advisory Committee, and IACEE Executive Committee. Participated in signature events such as UPCEA SOLA+R and UPCEA SuperCon by presenting and leading roundtable discussions.

Stephen Harmon, Ed.D., associate dean of research
Stephen Harmon, Ed.D.
Associate Dean, Research

Past-president and Chair of Awards Committee for Association for Educational Communications and Technology; Reviewer for the Educational Technology Research and Development Journal; Member of the Organizing Committee for the International Academic Forum on Educational Research and Innovation; and Organizing Committee and Co-PI for the SALE Summit.

Diane Lee, executive director of Georgia Tech-Savannah
Diane Lee
Executive Director of Georgia Tech-Savannah

Member of the Rotary Club of Savannah, Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, and Pooler Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau.

Leo Mark, associate dean of academic programs
Leo Mark, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Academic Programs

Former board member, Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) Graduate Curriculum Committee; Georgia Tech / IT University of Copenhagen exchange program. He is in a unique position to serve adult learners. He supports degrees-at-scale as the head of academic programs at GTPE and he is on the faculty for degree-at-scale programs. 

Patrice Miles, assistant dean of business operations
Patrice Miles
Assistant Dean, Business Operations

Chair of University Professional and Continuing Education Association's (UPCEA) Business Operations Network. Participated in signature events such as UPCEA SOLA+R and UPCEA SuperCon by presenting and leading roundtable discussions.

Excellence and Efficiency

Streamlining operations, maximizing our resources, and delivering robust services to our community of employees, campus colleagues, industry and state partners, as well as learners, is a constant focus. This year’s highlights include advancements in the GTPE digital strategy, a new collaboration with edX and Accenture, and more.