Ole Miss lecturer Colleen Thorndike wins distance learning teaching award

For Lafayette County students who work, care for family or commute into Oxford, a well-built online class can be the difference between staying enrolled and falling behind. That is why the University of Mississippi’s recognition of lecturer Colleen Thorndike matters beyond one campus ceremony.

Thorndike, a lecturer in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric, received the Paragon Award for Distance Learning Teaching at an annual luncheon for Ole Miss Online faculty members at the Jackson Avenue Center in Oxford. The award, now in its 14th year, came with a $1,000 prize and honors instructors who use online learning technology effectively, bring innovation beyond traditional classroom instruction and show a strong commitment to quality education.

Thorndike’s highlighted course, WRIT/DMS 101, Introduction to Digital Media Studies, stood out for the way it was organized. University officials said the class offered clear expectations, consistent weekly communication and transparent assignments and grading, giving students structure that helped them understand not only what they were doing, but why the work mattered. Officials said her course met the award’s criteria across the board, rather than excelling in just one category.

That kind of design is especially important in Oxford and Lafayette County, where students often have to fit college around jobs, family responsibilities and the realities of getting to campus. In an online setting, the difference between confusion and persistence can come down to whether an instructor keeps communication steady and makes deadlines, grading and course goals easy to follow.

Thorndike’s University of Mississippi profile lists expertise in pop culture, gender studies, online teaching, responsive pedagogy, reflective teaching practices, first-year writing and digital media studies. It also shows that her work reaches beyond a single section of one class. She teaches WRIT 100/101, WRIT 102 and WRIT 350, placing those teaching methods across first-year writing and digital media courses.

Ole Miss Online and the Office of Academic Outreach have used the Paragon Award to spotlight distance-learning teaching for years. The university recognized School of Pharmacy faculty member Hayley Prescott in 2024, and a 2019 outreach profile showed the ceremony held at the Jackson Avenue Center during the annual online-faculty symposium. The College of Liberal Arts also notes that some of its teaching awards carry a $1,000 prize, reflecting a broader campus push to reward instruction as much as research.

For Oxford and Lafayette County, Thorndike’s award points to a larger shift already underway: online teaching is no longer a side channel. At a public university anchored in the region, it is part of how students stay connected, keep moving toward graduation and build skills for a more digital workplace.