Distance Learning Course Quality Guidelines

Over the course of the semester the Online Course Quality Initiative Subcommittee of the DLCC met to create a set of Guidelines to help faculty improve the design and navigability of their online courses. Working in concert with the Quality REACHE training sessions held during the semester, the subcommittee designed a series of levels, from Basic, though Intermediate, to Advanced, to assist faculty assess the strengths and deficiencies of the their online courses. The Guidelines are Formative in nature, with the goal that, having met the advanced level recommendations, the faculty member will submit their course for a Quality REACHE review.

The subcommittee did recommend to the DLCC, which was approved by CADD, that all new online courses meet the Basic Level requirements before the course is offered. In addition, during the migration to Angel, the DLCC recommends that faculty meet the Basic Level Guidelines as they rebuild their courses in the new LMS.

Currently, the Guidelines consist of a set of bulleted lists of elements in each Level. In the fall the subcommittee will work to include more specific descriptions, with examples, of each of the elements in the list. The final document will consist of a hyperlinked file so that, when the user clicks 'Getting Started' a page will display that consists of several examples of ways to assist students in getting started. The page will also reference the parallel requirement in the Quality REACHE rubric.

I would like to thank the members of the subcommittee for their work on this project: Donnie Byers, Julane Crabtree, Clarissa Craig, Marilyn Gaar, Tracy Newman, Mary O'Sullivan, and Barb Mahring.

Online Course Student Feedback Survey

This semester IR piloted the implementation of administering the Online Course Student Feedback Survey in parallel to the IDEA surveys for f2f classes. For those whose online courses were selected to be surveyed, or those who volunteered to have their online course selected for review in lieu of a f2f class, you should receive your results in pdf format soon after the semester ends.

Faculty can choose to receive student feedback on any of their courses using the survey. All you need do is make the following link available to your students: http://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/1393dg2b334?wsb45=99999--where '99999' should be substituted for the CRN of the course you wish to have surveyed. You can deliver the URL in a number of ways: as a link from the calendar, an email, in WebLinks, or an icon on the Course Content home page. You can administer it anytime during the IDEA evaluation period, or at the end of the semester.

Online Student Orientation 'CD'

The online student orientation material is located at http://students.jccc.edu/dlorientation. You might want to add this URL to your Web Links tool. You can also direct students to the hands-on exercises to help them gain familiarity with Blackboard before the semester begins. To gain access to the Z - Dev Courses - DL Orientation shell, type in OCB30401 to 99 as the User Name on the Blackboard login page, and 123456 as the Password.

New Distance Learning Mentor

Dr. Monica Hogan has been selected by the DLCC to be the new Distance Learning Mentor. She will begin this summer to help faculty begin the migration to our new LMS, Angel Learning.

Monica brings many unique skills to the DL Mentor position, especially an expertise in pedagogy. She will be very helpful as we rebuild our courses in Angel over the next few semesters.

It has been my great pleasure to serve as your CTL DL Mentor these past 4 years. Although we went through a couple of really bad years, the DLCC--in cooperation with ATAC--has selected a new LMS for the college that will better serve the faculty as we move into the Web 2.0 phase of Distance Learning.

Online Course Information Guide

Just a reminder that the Online Course Information Guide is now in database format and integrated into the Banner listing of online courses. The Guide is no longer maintained by the DL Mentor. Please review your pages and send any modifications to Beth Ramirez.