About

Dr. Kumar is a Clinical Professor and has led the design and implementation of the online EdD in Educational Technology since 2010. She studies various aspects of online education, with the aim of identifying what constitutes excellence in online education in general, and online doctoral education in particular. Her current research centers around online pedagogy, online dissertation supervision/mentoring, and online program quality, with an emphasis on connections between theory, research, and practice. She strives to provide guidelines for online education practice, such as online program design, online course design, online dissertation mentoring, online instructor competencies, online instructor support, virtual exchanges, etc.

Her research has contributed to the development of models and frameworks in the emerging field of online doctoral education such as an evidence-based model for a research-focused online professional doctorate (Kumar & Dawson, 2018), and a framework for online dissertation mentoring (Kumar et al., 2018) that can guide administrators and faculty. Dr. Kumar has published several journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings; has presented at numerous national and international conferences; and conducted several workshops and webinars related to online education internationally. She bridges cultures and countries in her work, was a Fulbright Scholar to Hungary, a Visiting Professor in Germany, and has engaged in numerous international collaborations.

Research Interests

Adult Education, Blended Learning, Educational / Instructional Design, Faculty Development, Learning Culture and Technology, Mentoring, Mixed Methods, Online Mentoring, Online and Distance Education, Postsecondary Education, Professional Development, Qualitative Research, Systematic Review Methods and Meta-analysis, Technology Trends and Issues

Education

• Ed.D. - Boston University. 2007. Curriculum and Instruction.Ed.M. - Boston University. 2001. Educational Media and Technology.
• M.A. - Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, India. 1994. German Literature and Translation
• B.A. - Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. 1991. German Studies.

Professional Appointments

• Clinical Associate Professor, University of Florida, 2015-Present
• Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Florida, 2009-2015
• Instructor & Coordinator of Online Education, School of Education, Boston University, 2007-2009
• Adjunct Instructor, School of Education, Boston University, 2001-2007
• Senior Consultant, Learning and Performance Strategy Practice, Productivity Dynamics, Boston, 2001-2007

Activities and Honors

• 2020 Distance Education Best Practice Award for: Marull, C. & Kumar, S. Authentic Language Learning through Telecollaboration in Online Courses. TechTrends, 64, 628-635. Division of Distance Learning, Association of Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), 2020.
• Best Qualitative Journal Article Award (2nd place) for: Kumar, S., Martin, F., Budhrani, K., & Ritzhaupt, A. (2019). Award-winning faculty online teaching practices: Elements of award-winning courses. Online Learning Journal, 23(4), 160-180. Division of Distance Learning, Association of Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), 2020.
• Rosser Educator Excellence Award 2019-2020. College of Education, University of Florida.
• Best Qualitative Journal Article Award for: Martin, F., Budhrani, K., Kumar, S. & Ritzhaupt, A. (2019). Award-Winning Faculty Online Teaching Practices: Roles and Competencies. Online Learning Journal, 23(1), 184-205. Division of Distance Learning, Association of Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) 2019.
• Fulbright Scholar Award 2016-2017. Designing Blended Learning Environments in Hungarian Higher Education. Central European University, Hungary. Council for International Exchange of Scholars, USA.
• Superior Accomplishment Award, 2016. Division Three. University of Florida

Selected Publications

• Kumar, S., Kumar, V., & Taylor, S. (2020). A Guide to Online Supervision. United Kingdom Council of Graduate Education (UKCGE). http://www.ukcge.ac.uk/media/download.aspx?MediaId=2268
• Kumar, S. & Dawson, K. (2018). An Online Doctorate for Researching Professionals: Program Design, Implementation and Evaluation. Athabasca University Press. http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120272
• Pedro, N. S. & Kumar, S. (2020). Institutional support for online teaching in quality assurance frameworks. Online Learning Journal, 24(3), 50-66. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v24i3.2309
• Kline, J., Kumar, S., & Ritzhaupt, A. (2020). Project management competencies of educational technology professionals in higher education: A qualitative analysis of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Journal of Applied Instructional Design 9(3), 1-21. https://edtechbooks.org/pdfs/print/jaid_9_3/project_management.pdf
• Risner, M. & Kumar, S. (2020). Internationalizing teacher education through virtual connections and blended learning. eLearn Magazine. https://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=3403401
• Kumar, S., Martin, F., Budhrani, K., & Ritzhaupt, A. (2019). Award-winning faculty online teaching practices: Elements of award-winning courses. Online Learning Journal, 23(4), 160-180. https://olj.onlinelearningconsortium.org/index.php/olj/article/view/2077
• Kumar, S. & Johnson, M. (2019). Online mentoring of dissertations: the role of structure and support. Studies in Higher Education, 44(1), 59-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1337736
• Martin, F., Ritzhaupt, A., Kumar, S., & Budhrani, K. (2019). Award-winning faculty online teaching practices: Course design, assessment, and facilitation. Internet and Higher Education, 42, 34-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2019.04.001
• Martin, F., Budhrani, K., Kumar, S., & Ritzhaupt, A. (2019). Award-winning faculty online teaching practices: Roles and competencies. Online Learning Journal, 23(1), 184-205. https://olj.onlinelearningconsortium.org/index.php/olj/article/view/1329
• Kumar, S. & Ritzhaupt, A. R. (2017). What do instructional designers in higher education really do? International Journal on E-learning, 16(4), 371-393.

Selected Links

• http://www.swapnakumar.com