Matthew Boutilier

Matthew is passionate about online education. He is sensitive to the needs of those who are unable or unwilling to uproot themselves to further their education. Being a product of online education, he deeply understands the challenges online students face and how to design a virtual space where students engage with the content, their professors, and their peers in a deeply meaningful way. He understands the disconnect that can occur within a virtual environment. He desires to help faculty and students feel a part of a Christian community of learners within the virtual space.

Matthew’s research interests include faculty development in online pedagogies, trust and how it relates to implementing online pedagogical best practices to provide a high-quality, learner-centric curriculum that consistently achieves learning outcomes within a virtual team environment, character formation within the life of an online learner, especially as it pertains to creating an authentic, holistic community of ethical decision-making, character development and how character influences decision-making processes and makes meaning in the learner’s life, learning analytics and how data can be used ethically and effectively in helping underprivileged and under-resourced students learn effectively through adaptive learning technologies, human character as it pertains to team dynamics within online course development environments, online course assessment and evaluation, and soft skills and how they relate to establishing and maintaining rapport with subject matter experts in online course development.

In his spare time, Matthew enjoys exploring the hidden treasures of the Lake County Forest Preserves, bird and landscape photography, road trips with his wife, Beth, and exploring the city of Chicago with his favorite tour guide and daughter, Hannah.

Publications

Boutilier, Matthew (2021). Actively Engaging the Remote Learner. In Sebastian Mahfood, Timothy Westbrook, and Victoria Dunnam (Eds.), Teaching and Learning, Online and Emergency Remote in the Age of COVID19, (pp. 167-190). En Route Books.

Boutilier, Matthew & Safary Wa-Mbalaka (2025). Ten Leading Instructional Design Models.  In Baiyun Chen, Aimee deNoyelles, Gianina-Estera Petre, and Safary Wa-Mbaleka (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Higher Education Instructional Design. SAGE Publishing.