Hot Topics in Distance Education Dolores Davison Foothill

Hot Topics in Distance Education Dolores Davison, Foothill College Fabiola Torres, Glendale College Laurie Vasquez, Santa Barbara City College

What are the Hot Topics in Distance Education? • Accreditation • Accessibility • Authorization • Online Education Initiative • Regular/Effective/Substantive Contact • Proprietary Publisher Generated Materials • Others? 2

Accreditation: Eligibility Requirements • Eligibility Requirements 9. Educational Programs • Substantive Change (more than 50%) 11. Student Learning and Student Achievement • Student Learning Outcomes are the same 15. Student Support Services • ALL students, face-to-face and DE must be equal 17. Information and Learning Support Services • ALL students, face-to-face and DE must be equal 3

Accreditation: ACCJC Policy on DE/CE • Districts must provide… • List of courses, programs, certificates and degrees where 50% or more is offered in DE or CE (Substantive Change) • Means of verification of identity of students registered in distance education or correspondence education classes (Authentication) • College policies on regular and substantive interaction between students and faculty (Regular/Effective/Substantive Contact) • College policies on student privacy (How do we address any privacy issues in light of I. B. 6 Disaggregation of SLOs? ) 4

Accreditation: Federal Checklist • Policies and procedures for defining and classifying CE/DE in alignment with USDE definitions. (Do you have this? ) • There is an accurate and consistent application of the policies and procedures for determining if a course is offered by distance education (How do you • The institution has appropriate means for verifying the identity of a student and for ensuring that student information is protected. • The technology infrastructure is sufficient to maintain and sustain • The institution demonstrates compliance with the Commission Policy on Distance Education and Correspondence Education. 5

Accreditation: Annual Reports • Number of courses offered via distance education • Number of programs offered via distance education • Total unduplicated headcount enrollment in all types of Distance Education 6

Accessibility • Online accessibility – LMS first step • Training – underway through @One • Creating accessible online courses (concepts & strategies) • OEI rubric accessibility component • Instructional materials • Captioning, alt tags, reading order (screen reader), powerpoints • Campus scan required – what support exists on your campus • Review board policies and procedures • Program review – allocation of resources • Accessibility is now district wide 7

Accessibility • OCR visits to campuses nationwide • Patterns emerging, recommendations provided by OCR and DOJ • Legislative Proposal - focus on accessible instructional materials – guidelines to come out of U. S. Access Board • Textbooks – timeliness and delivery of accessible formats • Online textbooks or publisher platforms • Instructional materials embedded in instructional platforms • Refresh of the 508 Standards and Section 255 guidelines coming in 2016 • Applies to electronic and information technology • Procurement , software, hardware, websites and more • Our obligation and opportunity is now • What do you need to ensure student success • What does support look like 8

Authorization • SARA and SB 634 (Block, 2015) • Authentication of students • Concerns with the Online Education Initiative Exchange • Who will handle authorization? • No out-of-state students? Currently, yes, but open to change if authorization laws change. 9

Online Education Initiative • Number 1 Intention: Increase student completion by working together to increase access to quality online courses and support services for students • California Community College (CCC) Chancellor’s Office • Legislatively Funded and sponsored by Governor Brown • Online Course Exchange –for gateway and impacted courses • Focus on ADT (Associate Degree for Transfer) courses • Common Course Management System (CCMS) • Faculty Professional Development • Provide Student Support Tools • http: //ccconlineed. org 10

Regular, Effective, and Substantive Contact • Essential if any portion of a course is conducted online. • ACCJC requires its inclusion in a Board policy. • Local Curriculum Committees may work with DE Committees and/or Senates to develop policy and guidelines. • Faculty review process ensures the guidelines are followed. Sources: • Title 5 § 55204, “Instructor Contact. ” • CCCCO, “Distance Education Guideline, ” 2008. Guideline for Title 5 § 55204, pp. 6 -7. • ACCJC, “Substantive Change Manual” (2013). 3. 7. 3 and 5. 3. • ACCJC, “Guide to Evaluating Distance Education and Correspondence Education” (2012). II. A. 1. a. 11

Proprietary Publisher Generated Materials • How much is too much? When are they appropriate? • Should there be a statewide discussion of limits, or a local decision? • Need for instructor generated content. • Not just an issue in online • Instructional Materials Fees • Need for access for specific period of time 12

Thank You! Questions? Please contact us! • Dolores Davison davisondolores@foothill. edu • Fabiola Torres ftorres@glendale. edu • Laurie Vasquez vasquez@sbcc. edu 13