Quality Assurance for DistanceEducationat the San Diego Community CollegeDistrict

Department of Online and Distributed Learning, District Instructional Services

Table ofContents

Page

Operational Benchmarks for Assuring Distance EducationQualityCoreValues 1

CurriculumDevelopment ...... 1

FacultyDevelopment...... 1

StudentSupport...... 2

TechnologyDelivery...... 2

Evaluation and Assessment...... 3

Implementation of Distance EducationQuality

Curriculum andInstruction...... 3

Course DevelopmentStandards...... 4

Faculty Preparation to TeachOnline...... 4

Institutional Context andCommitment...... 5

Students and SupportServices...... 6

Student Preparation forSuccess...... 6

Essential Student SupportServices...... 7

Online StudentAuthentication...... 7

Evaluation and Assessment...... 9

Quality Assurance for DistanceEducationat the San Diego Community CollegeDistrict

OPERATIONAL BENCHMARKS FOR ASSURING DISTANCE EDUCATIONQUALITY

Online and Distributed Learning, District Instructional Services, provides support for the San Diego CommunityCollege District’s distance education programs. The following core values and services, outlinedbelow, frame the operational benchmarks for assuring distance educationquality.

Our core valuesare:

1.Toprovidehigh-qualityinstructionalservicestoourteaching-learningcommunity--the faculty, staff and students of City College, Mesa College, Miramar College,andContinuingEducation

2.To foster instructional leadership in the adoption of best practices for the useof technology to promote educationaleffectiveness.

3.Topromotequalityinnovativeapproachestoteachingandlearningviatechnology-mediatedinstruction.

TheDepartment ofOnlineandDistributedLearningpromotesthefollowingelementsessentialto ensuring excellence in distance education at the San Diego Community CollegeDistrict:

Curriculum development for online and technology-enhancedinstruction

  • Guidelines regarding quality standards must be in place to guidecourse development, design, anddelivery.
  • Curriculum and instructional requirements determine theappropriate technology for coursedelivery.
  • Online, partially online, and web-enhanced courses need to adhereto accreditation agencies’ principles of best practices forelectronicallydeliveredinstruction.
  • Instructional materials must be reviewed and revised periodicallyto ensure they meet programstandards.
  • Courses must be designed to require students to engage inhigher-order thinkingskills(analysis,synthesis,andevaluation)aspartoftheircourseand programrequirements.
  • All online materials must clearly and consistently be linked toSDCCD’s academicstandards.
  • All courses must meet copyright compliance and Americanswith Disabilities Act (ADA) Section 508 accessibility standards tobe responsivetothechangingnatureofaweb-baseddigitalmediateaching-learning environment guided by industry standardsand legislative rules andregulations.

Faculty development for adapting instruction for technology-mediateddelivery

  • Technical assistance in course development needs to be madeavailable to faculty, with convenient access to technical supportstaff.
  • Faculty members must be assisted and guided in the transitionfrom classroom teaching to onlineinstruction.
  • Faculty training for the online digital media environment mustinclude instruction on using the interactive asynchronous andsynchronous

communication tools that provide effective levels of studentcontact,feedback and interaction that is important to learners.

  • Faculty training and assistance, including peer mentoring, needs tobe made available and continue through the progression of thetechnology- mediatedcourse.

Student support for learningonline

  • Studentsneedtoreceiveinformationaboutthecourseand/orprogram,including admission requirements, tuition and fees, books andsupplies, technical and proctoring requirements, and student supportservices.
  • Students need to be provided with supplemental courseinformation,including course objectives, concepts, and ideas; and learningoutcomes for each course are summarized in a clearly written,straightforwardstatement.
  • Before participating in a technology-mediated course, students needtobeeffectivelyadvisedaboutthecoursetodetermineiftheypossesstheself-motivationandcommitmenttolearnatadistanceandiftheyhaveaccess to the technology required by the course design anddelivery approach.
  • Studentsneedtobeprovidedwithtrainingandinformationtoaidtheminsecuring material through electronic databases, interlibrary loans,and othersources.
  • Studentsneedtohavetechnicalassistanceandconvenientaccesstotechnical supportstaff.
  • Questions directed to student service personnel need to beanswered quicklyandaccurately,withastructuredsysteminplacetoalsohandleand respond to studentcomplaints.
  • Studentinteractionwithfacultyandwithotherstudentsisanessentialcomponent for effective online learning and needs to befacilitatedthrough a variety of ways, including discussion boards, chats,voice-mailand/or e-mailexchanges.
  • Feedback to student questions and assignments needs tobe constructive and provided in a timelymanner.
  • Studentsneedtohaveaccesstosufficientlibraryresourcesthatmay include a "virtual library" accessible through the World WideWeb.
  • Faculty and students participating in online teaching-learningprograms need to have agreement about expectations regarding times forstudent assignment completion and facultyresponse.

Technology Delivery System – BlackboardLearn

  • Theintegrityandvalidityofthecourseinformationanduserdatamustbeassured via systematic backups to the server and serversecurity systems.
  • Thereliabilityofthetechnologydeliverysystemneedstooperateasfailsafe aspossible.
  • Technology support needs to be provided to assist withtechnical problems and questions on a 24/7 basis, with a response time notto exceed 12hours.

Evaluation and Assessment of Effectiveness ofInstruction

  • The educational effectiveness and the teaching and learning processfor all technology-mediated courses must be assessed throughan evaluation process that uses multiple methods and appliesspecific standards.
  • Data on enrollment, retention, persistence, costs must be used toguide the evaluation of programeffectiveness.
  • Intended learning outcomes need to be reviewed regularly toensure clarity, utility, andappropriateness

IMPLEMENTATION OF DISTANCE EDUCATIONQUALITY

TheimplementationofdistanceeducationqualityattheSDCCDaddresseseachofthefollowingareas:

Curriculum andInstruction

  • Institutional Context andCommitment
  • Students and SupportServices

Evaluation andAssessment

Quality assurance procedures follow Section 55202 of the CCC Chancellor’s OfficeAugust2008 Distance Education Guidelines regarding Course QualityStandards:

55202. Course QualityStandards.

The same standards of course quality shall be applied to any portion of acourse conducted through distance education as are applied to traditional classroom courses,in regard to the course quality judgment made pursuant to the requirements ofsection 55002, and in regard to any local course quality determination or reviewprocess.

Determinations and judgments about the quality of distance education under thecourse quality standards shall be made with the full involvement of faculty in accordance withthe provisions of subchapter 2 (commencing with section 53200) of chapter2.

Curriculum andInstruction

Distance education courses undergo an equivalent curriculum review and approval process asfor on-campus courses. Additionally, for a course to be approved for distance education delivery,the distance education curriculum undergoes a separate review that requires distanceeducation- specificinformationwhenthecurriculumoriginatorinputsrequiredfieldsinCurricUNET:

Techniques used to ensure quality — Explain techniques you will use to ensurequality. Evaluation Method — Enter the Evaluation Methods you willuse.

Additional Resources — Enter any additional resources to beused.

Contact Type — Define the types of contact the instructor will have with students andthe frequency of each contacttype.

Once reviewed and approved by the Colleges and Continuing Education, the distanceeducation courses are then reviewed and approved by the Districtwide Curriculum and InstructionalCouncil. A list of approved distance education courses is updated regularly and posted to theInstructional Services website. Instructors are assigned by their college departments to teachdistance education courses in either a fully online or partially online delivery mode. Partiallyonline courses require at least one class meeting on campus and/or require proctoredexams.

SDCCD Online Learning Pathways, led by a Districtwide Dean of Online and DistributedLearning and anchored in the District Office of Instructional Services, is theDistrictwide support program for distance education faculty and students and works closely with newand experienced distance education faculty to ensure distance education quality. This processis outlined below and documented in the SDCCD Online Learning Pathways CourseDevelopment Approval Guide posted to:

Course DevelopmentStandards

San Diego City, Mesa, and Miramar Colleges offer fully online, partially online, andweb- enhanced courses via a district-wide implementation of Blackboard Learncourse management system. The courses follow a course design template for consistent look andfeel. InFall2008,theSDCCDcompletedamigrationfromtheWebCTCampusEditiontoBlackboard Vista hardware and software. During this two-year migration process, theonlinefaculty were retrained and their courses went through a “second edition” reviewand redevelopment on the new system. On Blackboard Vista each course is set up as aMaster coursethatdoesnotcontainstudentdataandiseditableandrevisableforcontinuousqualityimprovement. At the start of the semester, the Master course is copied to a live sectionand made available tostudents. In Spring 2011, SDCCD Online Learning Pathways began the migration of online courses to a newer version of Blackboard. Blackboard Learn is currently used.

The online courses are recommended to be presented in learning modules with eachmodule taught on a time-scheduled basis, such as one module per week. Depending upon thelearning objectives,allthemodulesmaybeavailablethroughoutthecourseorthemodulesmaybetime-released week by week. (Recommended Components of a Learning Module postedto: The seven recommended components ofthe learningmodulestoassureconsistentcoursequalityare:

1.Pre-Assessment- Prior to beginning the module, students are assessedto determine their entry-level knowledge of the topic. Results of themodule assessment are to be compared with this PreAssessment to measurestudents' learningoutcomes.

2.LearningObjectives

3.AssignedReading

4.AssignedWriting

5.Exercise/Activities

6.For FurtherStudy

7.Assessment-Thepurposeoftheassessmentistomeasuretheachievementofthe Learning Objectives for this module. Specify the instructorfeedbackconcerning the assessment (how will feedback be provided and when).Specify what the remediation process would be for students who miss meetingthe learning objectives. Use authentic assessments that require critical thinkingand deter students fromcheating.

Faculty Preparation to TeachOnline

To achieve distance education quality, faculty training includes course tools, coursedesign, course development, course management and pedagogy training for teaching effectivelyonline.Faculty attend a 20-hour Online Faculty Certification Program in a cohort where they havedual roles: as students who complete learning modules and participate in discussions, takequizzes, and as course designers/instructors where they apply their skills to their individual samplecourse. Faculty, in their role as students, earn points for the work they complete and experience whatit feels like to be an onlinestudent. After completion of the program, faculty are deemed “qualified” to teach online.

After the completion of the Certification Program, faculty are encouraged to set up an appointment withanInstructionalDesignCoordinatorfromSDCCDOnline Learning Pathways. Faculty are advised to start developing their course at leastsixmonths inadvance.

Throughout the faculty training and course development process, course quality standardsfor online courses based on these “foundational four” elements are thefocus.

1.Establish and maintain expectations andgoals.

2.Provideregularandfrequentopportunitiesforcommunicationandfeedback,including instructor-initiatedcontact.

3.Actively engage and facilitate students’learning.

4.Provide multiple opportunities for authentic assessment and demonstration ofstudent learningoutcomes.

InpreparingfacultytomeettherequirementsforinstructorcontactstatedinSection55204oftheCCC Chancellor’s Office August 2008 Distance Education Guidelines, SDCCD OnlineLearningPathwaystrainsfacultyintheimportanceandeffectiveuseofthecommunicationtoolsintheonline course. A guide to the range of asynchronous and synchronous tools withinthe Blackboard course management system is also provided, (“Features of the OnlineCourse” along with workshops that target new Web 2.0social networking tools to promotecommunication.

Model online courses are demonstrated to illustrate the best practices in online coursedesign and pedagogy. In addition to one-on-one faculty appointments with the team ofInstructional Design Coordinators, SDCCD Online Learning Pathways also sponsors Online FacultyMentors with 2.0 released time at each College and Continuing Education to be the peer expertsondistance education teaching. Regularly scheduled events such as the Distance Learning Summit,Technology workshops, and campus-based sessionsareforumsfornew and experienced faculty to collaborate and learn about the components ofdistance educationquality.

To assess a faculty member’s readiness to teach a distance education course,several instruments, modeled after the Quality Matters® program, are provided: Blackboard ProficiencyChecklist,OnlineTeachingProficiencyChecklist,ChecklistofCourseReadiness,andOnline Syllabus Checklist. In addition to these checklists, Accessibility Guidelines forDistance EducationCourses,GuidetoUsingCopyrightedMaterials,IntellectualPropertyAgreementare

additional resources reviewed during faculty training and posted to the Faculty Resources Siteat and are included in the Distance Education Handbook ( ).

Ongoingfacultysupportisprovidedthroughoutthestagesoftraining,coursedevelopment,course delivery and course revision. Online faculty are also part of a collaborativecommunityavailable via the Online Faculty Resource Site, which is a Blackboard site whereonline faculty have discussions, share tips, ask questions, and have access to shared learningobjects, articles, Distance Education Guidelines, links to share with students, news,tutorials, recommended new instructional tools and program updates.

Institutional Context andCommitment

The San Diego Community College District has established the department of Online andDistributed LearningforsupportingtheCollegesandContinuingEducationtomeettheirmissionofprovidingaccessible, high quality learning experiences to meet the educational needs of the SanDiego community.The department of Online and Distributed Learning is led by Dr. Kats Gustafson, Deanof Online and Distributed Learning, an experienced online educator and leader in the fieldof distance education. The Vice Chancellor of Instructional Services, Dr. Stephanie Bulger, oversees the department of Online and DistributedLearning.

A Districtwide Distance Education Steering Committee, chaired by the Dean of OnlineandDistributed Learning, meets monthly to review and advise the SDCCD Online LearningPathways unit. The Committee is comprised of Academic Senate representatives, OnlineFacultyMentors,onlinefaculty,DirectorofDSPS,Librarians,DirectorsofLibrary and Technology, Vice Presidents of Instruction, and SDCCD Online LearningPathways staff. The membership list and meeting minutes are postedto:

The institutional commitment is evidenced by resources that the SDCCD has dedicatedtodistance education. In addition to the Dean, the department includes a full-time SeniorSecretary,Systems Analyst, and two Instructional Design Coordinators. SDCCD OnlineLearning Pathways has a faculty training lab with up-to-date hardware and software on 10workstations and is given access to computer classrooms at the colleges for trainings, workshops, andevents. The budget for Online and Distributed Learning includes funding for the four OnlineFaculty Mentors from City, Mesa, Miramar Colleges and ContinuingEducation.

An instructional design coordinator from SDCCD Online Learning Pathways conductsscheduled weekly faculty instructional design appointments at City, Mesa, and MiramarColleges.

SDCCD Online Learning Pathways funds at 2.0 released time four Online Faculty Mentorsfor each of the Colleges and ContinuingEducation.

The online faculty production lab at SDCCD Online Leaning Pathways has up-to-datehardware andsoftwareandastaffmemberondutyfrom8a.m.to8p.m.Monday-Friday.

ThetechnicalinfrastructureislocatedattheSDCCDDistrictComputingWarehouseinthedata center, where it is monitored 24/7 and supported by the Information Technology Department.A dedicatednetworktechnicianoverseestheday-to-dayperformanceofthesystem.

The Information Technology Department is also responsible for managing the systemintegration of the student information system and the course management system. They have developeda dynamic process that updates the course rosters in Blackboard every two hoursthroughout the day/evening/weekend to ensure that enrolled students have access to their online andweb- enhanced courses and dropped students no longer haveaccess.

The District commitment also includes a contract with Presidium Learning for 24/7/365technical support for online students and faculty via toll-free phone, live chat, web ticket, orknowledge baseat improve theservice.

Students and SupportServices

Student Preparation forSuccess

Anessentialcomponentinassuringonlinecoursequalityisthepreparationofstudentsforonlinelearning success. As a first step, new online students are encouraged to complete theOnline Learning Readiness Assessment, which is an interactive set of 20 questions that yields ascore indicating the level of online learning readiness and the steps to take to getready. There is no requirement that onlinestudentsdemonstrate their readiness, either for the readiness to learn online or the technicalskills required. Students are directed to the webpages for Online Learning Successat in the class schedule, at the SDCCDOnline Learning Pathways website and in an email sent to the registered students the week beforethe coursestarts.

Providing information about each online course such as faculty contact information,required materials, course objectives, syllabus, and expectations and class procedures is anothermethod thatSDCCDOnlineLearningPathwaysusestopromoteonlinestudentpreparationforsuccess. Each online faculty member is recommended to prepare a Course Information Page thatis displayed on the SDCCD Online Learning Pathways site, linked from the homepageto Creating the pages is made easy through aweb- based form that the faculty member fills out on the Blackboard Faculty Gatewayat

AsectionoftheSDCCDOnlineLearningPathwayswebsiteat to student training and resources. Includedare:

Online Learning ReadinessAssessment Technical Requirements for OnlineLearning

Student Login and Troubleshooting Guide for BlackboardVista Netiquette Guidelines for OnlineStudents

College Policies – Student Code ofConduct

Tutorials about using the Blackboard Vista system and also tutorials for areas thatneed additional support such as, printing the syllabus, locating test results and assignmentgrades, sendinganemailwithinthecourse,submittinganassignmentarealsoprovided.

To prepare students for the online learning environment, a sample course is provided thattakes approximately 30 minutes to complete. The sample course illustrates the navigation andbasic contentareasofanonlinecourseofferedbythecolleges.

Face-to-face student orientations are conducted during the first week of the 16-weeksemester, and also at the start of the mid-semester 8-week courses at each of the campuses andvia CCCConfer by an SDCCD Online Learning Pathways staff, including the Dean. Studentsaregiven individual attention to accessing their course and also receive tips for onlinestudentsuccess. For those students who cannot attend one of the scheduled synchronousorientations, a self-paced audio-visual orientation is always available via the Students Trainingwebsite:

Essential Student SupportServices

  • Admissions/Registration (availablefully online)
  • Counseling/Advising
  • Financial Aid: (informationavailableonline)
  • Assessment
  • Tutoring
  • Library (onlineaccess)
  • Bookstore (fully availableonline)
  • 24/7/365 Technical Support(fullyavailable online via PresidiumLearning at the online students. However, the areas of Counseling/Advising, and Tutoring are offered ona limited basis. Assessment still requires an on-campusvisit.

SDCCD Online Learning Pathways partners with the District DSPS division and the City,Mesa,and Miramar Colleges Access Technology Specialists to provide captioning servicesfor instructor-created online multimedia content. They have set up a captioning studio to performthecaptioningforonlinefacultyandalsotrainfacultyhowtodotheirowncaptioningtocomplywithaccessibility requirements for onlinestudents.

Online StudentAuthentication

As stated in Section 496 of August 14, 2008, Higher Education Opportunity Act(HEOA):

AccreditingagenciesmustrequireinstitutionsthatofferDEorcorrespondenceeducationto have processes to establish that the student who registers is the same studentwho participates in and completes the work and gets the academiccredit.

All students who are enrolled in distance education courses at the San Diego CommunityCollege DistrictareissuedasecureusernameandpasswordforaccesstotheBlackboardVistasystem. Theusernameandpasswordaregeneratedfromthestudentinformationsystemregistrationrosters and are unique to each student. Access to the user database for assisting studentswith loginissuesisrestrictedtoseveralkeystaffmembersofSDCCDOnlineLearningPathwaysand to the PresidiumHelpdesk.

To answer the question, “What academic integrity and student verification practices andwhat course design approaches are faculty at City, Mesa, and Miramar Colleges using toensure student authentication,” online faculty were surveyed in February 2009 to collect informationabouttheir current practices that discourage academic dishonesty such as plagiarism, unpermitted collaboration, unauthorized help, impersonation and cheating among onlinestudents.

245 faculty teaching online courses in regular Spring 2009 session at City (93), Mesa (85),and Miramar (67) Colleges were asked to complete the survey. A total of 54 surveys werecompleted, which equals a 22% response rate. The complete results of the survey are posted to theOnline Faculty Resource Site where faculty have a forum to discuss the results and share bestpractices.

The following are examples of the prevention strategies and course design techniques ouronline faculty use to promote studentauthentication:

Themajority(95%)ofthefacultyincludeastatementaboutacademicintegrityintheircoursesyllabus.