1. Hot Topics: Online Education
Conan McKay, ASCCC Area B Representative
John Freitas, ASCCC Treasurer
Michael Heumann, Online Education Committee Member
Introductions: Who’s in the room

2. What are some of the Hot Topics in Distance Education?
Accessibility
Regular and Effective Contact
Student Services
Others?
Online Education Paper
What are people hoping to gain, other topics that people are interested in
Are there any topics that you might like to see in the Ensuring Effective Online Education Programs: A Faculty Perspective

3. Role of Local Senates Resolution 17.02 F14
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges affirm that requirements for collegial consultation on academic and professional matters fully apply to college and district distance education instructional programs and student services; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges support local academic senates in their efforts to assert to their governing boards and designees that faculty primacy over academic and professional matters applies fully to college and district distance education instructional programs and student services.

4. Role of Local Senates
Governance - DE committees and selection of DE coordinators
Regular and effective contact policies
DE Handbooks
Curriculum
Faculty preparation to teach DE and ongoing professional development for DE faculty
Instructional design standards
Enrollment management and class size limits
Student readiness standards
Planning and program review
Accreditation and substantive change proposals
Participation in OEI

5. ASCCC Resolution on Local Senate Purview and Statewide Initiatives
Resolution F14
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges affirm that college or district participation in any of the current or future statewide initiatives does not nullify local senate purview over academic and professional matters;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge the Chancellor’s Office to remind governing boards and their designees that they must engage in collegial consultation with local senates before and during participation in any current or future statewide initiatives which encompass academic and professional matters; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local senates to focus on the educational needs of their students and the professional needs of their faculty when deciding whether or not to recommend to their governing boards and/or designees participation in any current or future statewide initiative.
DE courses should not be exclusively an FTE grab or facilities

6. Title 5 Regular and Effective Contact
Title 5 Section 55224…. All approved courses offered as distance education include regular effective contact between instructor and students, through group or individual meetings, orientation and review sessions, supplemental seminar or study sessions, field trips, library workshops, telephone contact, correspondence, voice mail. , or other activities. (b) All distance education courses are delivered consistent with guidelines issued by the Chancellor pursuant to section 409 of the Procedures and Standing Orders of the Board of Governors.
Regular effective contact is an academic and professional matter pursuant to title 5, section

7. Title 5 Regular and Effective Contact Con’t
subsection (a) stresses the responsibility of the instructor ina DE course to initiate regular contact with enrolled students to verify their participation and performance status. The use of the term “regular effective contact” in this context suggests that students should have frequent opportunities to ask questions and receive answers from the instructor of record
Subsection (b) honors the principle that for DE courses, there are a number of acceptable interactions between instructor and student, not all of which may require in-person contact. Thus, districts will need to define “effective contact“ including how often, and in what manner instructor-student interaction is achieved. It is important that districts document how regular effective contact is achieved.

8. Demonstrating Regular and Effective Contact
What is your DE definition of Regular and Effective Contact? Does your college have a definition of Regular and Effective Contact?
Can a visitor to a course see in Canvas that interaction is regular and effective as defined BY THE CAMPUS (and printed in the catalog and schedule of classes)?
Some examples of acceptable methods of regular and effective contact. Archivable personalized feedback via CMS or district
Frequent interaction in discussion boards within the CMS. (Any discussion of grades must remain private)
Archivable and ADA compliant Chat/IM
ADA compliant Synchronous Sessions / Closed captioned video conferencing
It is important for each campus to define what Regular and Effective means and have it as a DE policy when your campus is being visited by ACCJC. This is becoming a item of interest for ACCJC.

9. Regular and Effective Contact
In hybrid or fully online courses, ensuring Regular Effective Instructor/Student Contac guarantees that the student receives the benefit of the instructor’s presence in the learning environment both as a provider of instructional information and as a facilitator of student learning.

10. Regular and Effective Instructor Initiated Contact with Students
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.

11. Regular and Effective Contact
Instructor-Student/Student-Instructor Examples:
/messaging
Discussion boards
Chat rooms
Skype/Zoom (synchronous office hours, conferencing)
Mail
Phone calls
Social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc)
For Regular and Effective Contact there are really four areas that need to be addressed. They will all be addressed in the next few slides. 1) Instructor to Student Contact 2) Student to LMS 3) Student to Student 4) Student to content.

12. Regular and Effective Contact
Student-Student Examples:
• Messaging via the CMS
Discussion boards
Chat/IM
Synchronous/Asynchronous Document Editing
Synchronous/Real-time group communication tools
Collaborative projects: group blogs, wikis, webpage, other eTools
For Regular and Effective Contact there are really four areas that need to be addressed. They will all be addressed in the next few slides. 1) Instructor to Student Contact 2) Student to LMS 3) Student to Student 4) Student to content.

13. Regular And Effective Contact
Student-Content Examples:
• Synchronous/Asynchronous ADA compliant Modules/Lessons within the CMS
Synchronous ADA compliant Lectures (recorded/streaming/chat)
Transcribed audio files
Closed Captioned Podcasts/webinars/screencasts
Closed Captioned Videoconferencing/CCCConfer
Discussion Boards within the CMS
ADA Compliant 3rd party auxiliary platforms (You must be prepared to allow the accreditation team member in your 3rd party platform if requested)
Student-Interface (CANVAS) Examples:
• Technology devices
• Internet browsers
• Software applications
• Modules/Lessons within the CMS
• Discussion boards within the CMS
Other CMS Activities

14. Accessibility
Provide all distance education students maximum opportunity to access distance education resources "anytime, anywhere" without the need for outside assistance.
Criteria is organized around the following four principles, which lay the foundation necessary for anyone to access and use Web content. Anyone who wants to use the Web must have content that is:
1.  Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they have the ability to comprehend (it can't be invisible to all of their senses), e.g.:
◦ Provide text alternatives for non-text content.
◦ Provide captions and alternatives for audio and video content.
◦ Make content adaptable; and make it available to assistive technologies.
◦ Use sufficient contrast to make things easy to see and hear.

15. Accessibility (Continued)
Anyone who wants to use the Web must have content that is:
2.  Operable: User interface components and navigation cannot require interaction that a user is unable to perform, e.g.:
◦ Make all functionality keyboard accessible.
◦ Give users enough time to read and use content.
◦ Do not use content that may cause seizures.
◦ Help users navigate and find content.

16. Accessibility (continued)
3. Understandable: Information and the operation of user interface cannot be beyond the users’ comprehension, e.g.:
◦ Make text readable and understandable.
◦ Make content appear and operate in predictable ways.
◦ Help users avoid and correct mistakes
4. Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies

17. Student Resources Academic Honesty Distance Education Student Page
It will be extremely effective to have the following links and/or files to all DE course shells:
Academic Honesty
Distance Education Student Page
DSPS Handbook
Student Services A-Z
WELCOME LETTER
SYLLABUS

18. Areas Faculty Can Design to Ensure Alignment to Locally Decided DE Policies
Syllabus
Visible Application of Regular & Effective Contact Policies in Weekly Design
Accessibility
Student Services

19. SARA

20. State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements/SARA
A State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) is an agreement among its member states districts and U.S. territories that establishes comparable national standards for interstate offering of postsecondary distance-education courses and programs. It is intended to make it easier for students to take online courses offered by postsecondary institutions in a state other than the one where they reside.

21. Questions
Thank you

22. Resources
Distance Education Accessibility Guidelines for Students with Disabilities
ICAS Statement on Online Education for Public HIgher Education
An Open, Online Class to Prepare Faculty to Teach Online
Title 5 Definition of DE and USDE Definitions of DE and CE

23. Contacts Conan McKay cmckay@Mendocino.edu
John Freitas
Michael Heumann