| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

epc eval update

This version was saved 12 years, 8 months ago View current version     Page history
Saved by abogado
on July 15, 2011 at 6:36:00 am
 

EPC Eval Update

 

EPC DE Program Review of June 2009

Recommendations:

  1. DE should meet with VP Student Services to discuss challenges and resources needed, such as: counseling, health services, advisement, etc.
  2. Further explore interdisciplinary courses and programs
  3. Explore the idea of requiring a course in online pedagogy before certification rather than at recertification
  4. Carefully consider the number and choice of platforms to be available at LAMC
  5. Approval process needs review and clarity for all three components: instructor certification, course approval, and shell approval
  6. Carefully consider which issues should be centralized at the District or kept local to LAMC

Update:

#1 - Counseling, health services, advisement

To enhance the review, assessment, and implementation of more student services for our hybrid/online students including, counseling, the DE Committee added Diana Bonilla from Counseling to the DE Committee as a voting member. Counseling currently does online counseling for online students through an electronic form. Counseling is considering the implementation of a "chat client" for online students to provide more "synchronous "access to counseling.

DE and Student Services need to develop increased contact and campus college services  with online students. Below are some methods DE, Counseling and Student Services should consider in enhancing our online classes as part of the Substantive Change. (per recent Calif. Community College Chancellor's Survey of April 3, 2011 (click here


                                                                                     

Methods of Student Contact

Meeting face-to-face on campus

Telephone meetings (either one on one or group conference calls)

E-mailing

Text messaging

Blogging

Online Discussion Board

Class Chat Room

Video Conferencing with students (either point to point or multi point)

Class Facebook Page

Class Twitter Feed

Other Social Networking Sites

Mailing materials to students (Public/Private Postal Services)

Faxing materials to/from students

CCC Call Confer (Telephone conferencing only)

CCC Meet and Confer (Telephone/computer conferencing)

CCC Teach and Confer (Telephone/computer conferencing for teaching)

CCC Confer Office Hours (Telephone/computer conferencing for meeting with students)

CCC Confer Moodle Room (Open source LMS)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The DE Committee, Counseling, Student Services, and the remainder of the College units, departments, and programs should consider implementing and/or increasing the following student services and make available to our online students, and our current on campus students : (per recent Calif. Community College Chancellor's Survey of April 3, 2011 (click here

Increase Available Student Services

 

Service or program is offered only on-campus

Offered on-campus and through other communication technologies

Information available via static web page posting

Student can request or submit information to program or service via an interactive web page

Student can obtain information via the telephone through prerecorded message

Student can request or submit information to program or service using the telephone

Not offered

Course/Program Catalog

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Admissions

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Schedule of Classes

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Registration

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Assessment and Testing (Diagnostic, Placement, & Academic)

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Academic Advising and Counseling

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Orientation

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Financial Aid

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Student Accounts

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Student to Student Communications

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Faculty to Student Communications

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

College to Student Communications

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Bookstore Services

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Library Services

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Remediation Services

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Retention Services

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Tutoring (Individual & Group)

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Disabled Student Services

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Counseling (Personal)

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Career Counseling & Placement Services

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Ethical & Legal Services

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Financial Planning (Budgeting, Banking, Loan & Credit Card Management)

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Health Services

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Student Activities (Recreation, Leadership, Academics, Religion & Spirituality)

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Student Population Segments Services (International, Minority, Veteran, Alumni, etc)

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Transcript Ordering/payment

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

E-portfolios

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Emergency Calls to Landline Telephone

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Emergency Calls to Cellular Telephone

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

Emergency Text Message to Cellular Telephone

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

[ ]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#2 - Interdisciplinary Programs

 

During the suspension of  review by DE for online course approval, and the drafting of the Substantive Change, there has been no development of Interdisciplinary Programs. It is recommended that DE and EPC work with the  Strategic Enrolllment Management Committee to determine, by enivornmental scan, student and community surveys, and the like, the needs for new interdisciplinary courses and programs.

Some things to consider in developing more online classes and programs (per recent Calif. Community College Chancellor's Survey of April 3, 2011 (click here) are the following:

 

_______Faculty's own initiative (seminar, course, etc.)

_______College-funded education

_______Flex Calendar session on how to develop DE courses

_______DE course development manual (Locally developed or purchased)

_______Release time to learn skills for development of distance education courses

_______Online self-paced tutorials

_______Training provided by the @ONE Project

_______Faculty Mentors

_______Stipends or grants to faculty

_______Instructional Designers working with faculty

_______Training provided by college staff

_______Instructional designers working independently

#3 - Explore the idea of requiring a course in online pedagogy before certification rather than at recertification

The DE Committee adopted the recommendation from EPC re requiring an online pedagogy certificate and now requires that all faculty teaching a hybrid or online class receive a certificate in "Online Pedagogy". The DE Committee further approved training for such online pedagogy with @One (an approved CCC provider), and as of this summer 2011, all faculty who are teaching online or hybrid classes have received a certificate in both "Intro to Moodle" or "Intro to ECollege" (the two approved Course Management Platforms for the delivery of hybrid/online classes) and "Intro to Online Teaching and Learning" ("IOTL") with @One (http://onefortraining.org). Hard copies of said certificates are on file with Paul McKenna, who is the DE designated person to maintain the list of certificated faculty teaching either online or hybrid classes.

#4 -  Carefully consider the number and choice of platforms to be available at LAMC

The DE Committee carefully reviewed the existing Course Management Systems, and determined that the College should employ two Course Management Systems - Moodle and E College. At this point, the College pays approximately $8000 per academic calendar year (Fall and Spring) for a total delivery of  88 classes (40 students per class) or more than 3500 online/hybrid and on campus students. That is a cost of $2.25 per student for the college. Previously we used the Etudes Course Management System, at double the cost.  ECollege does not cost the college anything, as the costs are underwritten by the publisher of the textbooks used by our online and hybrid students.  Mission College has effectively leveraged the course management technology in the delivery of its online and hybrid classes. The other colleges in the LACCD spend many thousands more dollars for their course management systems (for example WLAC spends in excess of $100,000 on Etudes, and Valley in excess of $75,000).

#5 - Approval process needs review and clarity for all three components: instructor certification, course approval, and shell approval

As part of the Substantive Change process, the DE Committee decided to review all online classes that had been taught in the last 5 (five) years and which had not been reviewed as part of the DE Shell Review process. 30 online classes were reviewed, with the approval of 25 classes, and five classes received a "Needs Improvement". The faculty teaching those classes were notified and received the findings of the DE Review, and those shells will be updated by the respective faculty, and reviewed for approval prior to the Fall 2011 semester.

The DE Shell review process needs to be improved. One suggestion is to take the Shell Review Rubric, and to "annotate" it so faculty have more specific guidelines, norms, standards, and "best practices" with which to assist in improving their online courses. See proposed/sample of "Best Practices" for review and adoption as part of our Substantive Change.

Best Practices

Overview-Summary Content
Assignments
Forums Quizzes

Syllabus

 

Frequent Contact

 


It is recommended in developing new online classes and programs, that both DE, Curriculum, and EPC develop an updated DE Education Approval (see sample/proposed), a new DE Faculty Guidebook (see sample/proposed guidebook) and a supplemental and enhanced DE Online/Hybrid approval form, similar to Glendale Community which includes review, and approval by DE, Curriculum, and the Department Chair.

This new process will require that new hybrid/online classes, and the faculty offering such new classes/programs address the following in the new/updated DE Course Approval form :

Each proposed or existing course, if delivered by distance education, shall be separately reviewed and approved by the curriculum committee prior to being offered. [Education Code 55213]

The new form fulfills three objectives:
1) It justifies the need for the course to be taught in online or hybrid format;
2) it assures that the educational objectives of the course can indeed be achieved via distance delivery; and
3) it makes clear how students will be able to communicate with the instructor. It is the instructor’s responsibility to read the Distance Education Guidebook for more information about policies and guidance for filling out this form.

The online faculty should address the following questions regarding the proposed new online class:

1.    Describe the rationale for offering THIS SPECIFIC COURSE as either a hybrid or online course as opposed to using only traditional classroom-based approaches. See Distance Education Guidebook for more information.

2(a) Based on the official course outline on file, how much TOTAL instructional time is required for this course (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer)? (Example: A 3 unit lecture class requires 48 hours)

2(b) How much of this instructional time will be delivered online? (Example: A 3 unit lecture class taught as a 50% hybrid would be 24 hours online)
     
2(c)   How will you adapt the traditional instructional materials in THIS SPECIFIC COURSE to be delivered online? What methods of presentation (e.g., discussion boards, powerpoints, audio, video, podcasts, webinars, etc.) will be used to fulfill the online instructional time? For hybrid courses please indicate which methods will be delivered online vs. in the classroom.

3(a) Based on the official course outline on file, how much TOTAL Homework time is required for this course (Example: A 3 hour lecture class requires 96 hours of homework

3(b) What types of assignments (e.g., documents reviewed on Blackboard/WebCT, internet research, reading assignments, projects, etc.) will be used to fulfill this time?

Evaluation:

4. Describe the Course Evaluation and Testing Methods.

5(a) Method(s) of Regular Weekly Contact (please check all that apply and include synchronous and/or asynchronous communication).
Email
Discussion Board
Telephone
Other        

5(b) Method(s) of Intervention for Students Not Meeting Course Expectations: (please check all that apply)
Email
Discussion Board
Telephone
Early Alert (recommended)
Other       

If an online course complete the following:

5(c) Method(s) of Contact Prior to Census Day in addition to the required face-to-face orientation (please check all that apply).
Email
Discussion Board
Telephone
Other       

6(a) List any course delivery system/applications you plan to use (e.g. Blackboard/WebCT, faculty Web pages, etc).

6(b) How do you plan on using the capabilities of each delivery system/application listed in 6a (e.g., blog, email, RSS, chat, uploading, documents, quizzes)?

Also the DE Committee should develop "Best Practices" with respect to the content, assignments, quizzes, forums and "frequent contact" - see proposed Best Practices"

The issue of frequent contact cannot be emphasized enough.

Below are methods that DE should support and encourage faculty to implement in their hybrid/online classes to ensure "high quality" classes.

 Frequent Contact" Best Practices for Online/Distance Education Courses

(excerpted from Foothill Community College)

In accordance with Title 5, discussions in the Faculty Academic Senate and the College Curriculum Committee, a survey of faculty, online discussions, and a review of the pertinent literature, the Foothill College Academic Senate has formulated the following best practices and guidelines for “Regular, Timely and Effective Student/Faculty Contact” in online/distance education courses:

 

Best Practices

  1. Communication:

These communication guidelines are as follows:

“Provides students with a written explanation of the evaluation process, expectations and requirements, assignments, course content, relevant dates, and other information.” and is the same requirement for all teachers. 
Communication must include but is not limited to:

  • ·        Relevant Dates, Course Schedule, and Deadlines.
  • ·        Faculty Expectations and Requirements for minimum student participation (quantity and quality) for all sections of the course.
  • ·        Evaluation Process including the timeframe for faculty feedback on student works such as discussion posts, and assessments (quizzes, exams, assignments, projects, surveys) so that the student can gauge their progress. Faculty must provide substantive feedback within a reasonable time as outlined in the course syllabus.
  • Faculty/Student Communication Process including the timeframe for faculty response to student communications. A response time of 24-48 hours, Monday through Friday is desirable but may vary based on course requirements and extenuating circumstances. It must be clear whether or not the instructor will be available after hours or on weekends and holidays.
  • Methods of regular, timely, and effective student/faculty contact that will be employed in the course (as described below)
  • A Contingency Plan for when the instructor is unavoidably unavailable for a specific period. Faculty must provide the students with a plan for instances when they may not be available due to personal or technical emergencies. Announcing (in advance if possible) any absence of greater than two working days and providing clear options for students to continue their progress in the class until the instructor returns is essential.

2.   Effective Student/Faculty Contact: it has been clearly shown that lack of regular, timely, and effective contact between students and instructors is a major factor in student attrition and poor performance in online courses. Depending on class design and Instructor preference, the faculty shall employ one or more of the following methods of regular, timely, and effective student/faculty contact in all online, hybrid, and web-enhanced courses: (it is recognized that instructors of web-enhanced and Hybrid courses have more in-person contact with their students and would as such rely less on these methods.)

These effective contact guidelines are as follows:

“Maintains student-faculty relationship conducive to learning,” as well as the following student evaluation criteria:

Motivates student interest and intellectual effort,
Encourages students to ask questions and participate in class discussions,
Encourages individual thinking and differences of opinion, and
Uses full class time effectively.”

 

List of Senate Recommended Methods of Regular, Timely, & Effective Student/Faculty Contact (in no particular order)

  • ·        Private Messages within the Course Management System
  • ·        Personal e-mail outside of the Course Management System
  • ·        Telephone Contact
  • ·        Weekly Announcements in the Course Management System
  • ·        Chat Room within the Course Management System
  • ·        Timely feedback and return of student work (tasks, tests, surveys, and discussions) in Course Management System by methods clarified in the syllabus.
  • ·        Discussion Forums with appropriate facilitation and/or substantive instructor participation[ii]
  • ·        E-Portfolios/Blogs/Wiki for sharing student works in progress; provide feedback from fellow students and faculty in a collaborative manner, and to demonstrate mastery, comprehension, application, and synthesis of a given set of concepts. [iii]
  • ·        Group or individual meetings iv
  • ·        Orientation and review sessions iv
  • ·        Supplemental seminar or study sessions iv
  • ·        Field trips iv
  • ·        Library workshops iv

 

If, for whatever reason, a faculty member is unable to comply with the regular, timely, and effective contact guidelines set forth above, and in the course syllabus, students should  be informed via e-mail or high priority announcement as to when they can expect regular, timely, and effective contact to resume.

 


[i] Waterhouse, S. & Rogers, R. (2004), The Importance of Policies in E-Learning Instruction, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 28-39.

 

[ii] Roblyer, M.D. & Leticia Ekhami (2000, Spring), How Interactive are YOUR Distance Courses? A Rubric for Assessing Interaction in Distance Learning, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume III, Number II, Retrieved from the World Wide Web April 4, 2001 http://www.westga.edu/~distance/roblyer32.html



#6 - Carefully consider which issues should be centralized at the District or kept local to LAMC  

The DE Coordinator is part of the District Technology Planning and Policy Committee which is considering a number of issues to centralize for use by all colleges in delivery of online and hybrid classes. One such improvement is a automated wait list" which will allow online students to be placed on a "wait list" once classes reach their full limits of 40 students.  Other such centralized services are being considered at the District level and will be implemented at Mission, as and when they are "rolled out" by the District to each college. Another such enhancement is a District Wide Student email system. Two sister colleges are currently piloting this service, and this would be a great addition to online students by increasing the use and ease of communication.

On a final note, a district wide email will increase student retention with our online classes and programs.

See the below methods, that DE should consider in improving retention amongst our online and hybrid students: 

 

[ ] Predictive analytics using data collected from the Learning Management System (LMS).

[ ] Early alert notification to student and/or faculty via e-mail

[ ] Peer advisors contacting students when pre determined parameters of participation are not reached.

[ ] Faculty contacting students when pre determined parameters of participation are not reached.

[ ] Counselors contacting students when pre determined parameters of participation are not reached.

[ ] Instructional redesign of the curriculum to assure more learner centered engagement of students.

 


last updated: 7/14/11 @ 6 pm

 

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.