Transcript How the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) Affects

An Update on the Higher Education
Opportunity Act (HEOA):
Fred Lokken
Chair, Instructional Technology Council (ITC)
&
Associate Dean, WebCollege & ASC
Truckee Meadows Community College
Reno, Nevada
Relevant provisions of the HEOA
Specifics in the HEOA about eLearning (Distance Education) are
found in Title I and Title IV of the act
The Higher Education Opportunity Act
 Background:
 Reauthorization of the HEA – signed into law on August 14,
2008 as Public Law 110-315
 The bill had languished in committee for nearly six years
 Strong focus on accountability - the act includes more than 50
new “accountability” requirements for higher education
impacting financial aid, accreditation – and yes, Distance
Education
HEOA: Distance Education provisions
1.Relevant: Updates definition of distance education,
replacing “telecommunications” with “distance education” to
read, “the use of one or more technologies to deliver
instruction to students who are separated from the instructor
and to support regular and substantive interaction between
the students and the instructor, either synchronously or
asynchronously.“
2. Not relevant: the Secretary of Education is required
to produce an annual report regarding its distance
education demonstration projects (no current or future
projects are funded).
HEOA: Distance Education provisions
3.Relevant: Regional accreditation agencies must:
-1. Demonstrate they have effective standards for evaluating \
program quality.
-2. Create review teams that are well-trained and knowledgeable
with respect to their responsibilities regarding distance education.
-3. Monitor significant growth in distance education enrollment. A
review is required if distance education enrollment increases by 50
percent in one institutional fiscal year.
HEOA: Distance Education provisions
4. Not Relevant: The National Academy of Sciences’ National
Research Council is asked to compare the of quality of
distance education with campus-based courses, however
Congress does not providing funding for this report.
5. Relevant: Colleges are required to have “processes” that
establish that “the student who registers in a distance
education course or program is the same student who
participates in and completes the program and receives
the academic credit.”
HEOA: Distance Education provisions
– role of the ITC
 Worked closely with US Senate staff from Senator Harry
Reid’s office and Senator John Ensign’s office as well as with a
lobbyist from the AACC
 ITC focused on authentication requirement - it was apparent
that the intent of the “authentication” provision was limited
to the use of a unique username and password solution and
was prompted by concerns with “for-profit” DE providers
HEOA Distance Education provisions –
Role of the ITC
 The ITC raised five concerns:
 1. Why apply to all institutions?
 2. Was there data to validate requirement?
 3. Risk of errant applications of the language
 4. Anticipated high costs for implementing solutions
 5. Protecting the privacy rights of students
HEOA: Clarifying Language
 "The Conferees expect institutions that offer distance education to
have security mechanisms in place, such as identification numbers
or other pass code information required to be used each time the
student participates in class time or coursework on-line. As new
identification technologies are developed and become more
sophisticated, less expensive and more mainstream, the Conferees
anticipate that accrediting agencies or associations and institutions
will consider their use in the future. The Conferees do not intend
that institutions use or rely on any technology that interferes with
the privacy of the student and expect that students' privacy will be
protected with whichever method the institutions choose to
utilize."
US Department of Education Rulemaking phase
The HEOA requires the regional accrediting agencies to implement
key provisions of the HEOA prior to the issuing of rules by the US
Department of Education
US Department of Education
 Has created five functional committees to deal with breadth
of issues included in the law
 Members for each committee recruited via the Federal
Registry
 Committees began meeting in March
 Committees continue to meet – committee charged with
Distance Education completed their work as concerns
Distance Education as of May 20th
Committee Language
602.17 Application of standards in reaching an accreditation decision.
(g) Requires institutions that offer distance education or correspondence education to have
processes in place through which the institution establishes that the student who
registers in a distance education or correspondence education course or program is the
same student who participates in and completes the course or program and receives the
academic credit. The agency
(1) Requires institutions to verify the identity of a student who participates in
class or coursework by using, at the option of the institution, methods such
as - (i) A secure login and pass code;
 (ii) proctored examinations; and
 (iii) New or other technologies and practices that are effective in
verifying student identification;
(2) Makes clear in writing that institutions must use processes that protect student privacy
and notify students of projected additional student charges associated with verification of
student identity, if any , at the time of registration or enrollment.
Committee Language
600.2 Definitions
Correspondence course:
(1) A course provided by an institution under which the institution provides
instructional materials, by mail or electronic transmission, including
examinations on the materials, to students who are separated from the
instructor. Interaction between the instructor and the student is limited, is not
regular and substantive, and is primarily initiated by the student.
Correspondence courses are typically self-paced.
(2) If a course is part correspondence and part residential training, the Secretary
considers the course to be a correspondence course.
(3) A correspondence course is not considered distance education.
Committee Language
602.16 Accreditation and preaccreditation standards.
(c) If the agency has or seeks to include within its scope of recognition the
evaluation of the quality of institutions or programs offering distance education
or correspondence education, the agency's standards must effectively address
the quality of an institution's distance education or correspondence education in
the areas identified in (a) (1). The agency is not required to have separate
standards, procedures, or policies for the evaluation of distance education or
correspondence education;
Committee Language
602.3 Correspondence Education means:
(1) Education provided through one or more courses by an institution under which the
institution provides institutional materials, by mail or electronic transmission, including
examinations on the materials, to students who are separated from the instructor.
(2) Interaction between the instructor and the student is limited, is not regular and
substantive, and is primarily initiated by the student.
(3) Correspondence courses are typically self-paced.
(4)Correspondence education is not distance education.
Distance education means education that uses one or more of the technologies listed in
paragraphs (1) though (4) to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the
instructor and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and
the instructor, either synchronously or asynchronously. The technologies may include –
(1) The internet
(2) One-way and two-way transmissions through open broadcast, closed circuit, cable,
microwave, broadband lines, fiber optics, satellite, or wireless communications devices;
(3) Audioconferencing, or
(4) Video cassettes, DVDs, and CD-ROMs, if the cassettes, DVDs, or CD-ROMs are used in
a course in conjunction with any of the technologies listed in paragraphs (1) through (3).
Regional Accrediting Agencies
 Will implement the language drafted by the rule-making
committee
 Separate to this: WCET (www.wiche.edu) drafted a set of
best practices – shared with ITC (its membership) which
made several additions – Creative Commons document of
Best Practices re authentication
HEOA: where we are…
Some venders have seized the opportunity to take advantage of
confusion over what the HEOA requires –
But rule-making has ensured institutional flexibility to determine
what is appropriate
Impact of the HEOA on
Distance Education
1.Campuses will need to establish a unique username/
password solution if they have not already done so (ITC
Annual Survey for 2008 found that 96% of institutions
report they already do this)
2.Campuses will eventually need to expand beyond this
standard based on anticipated accreditation expectations and
improving solutions
3. Anticipated increased attention to academic integrity issues
The issue of academic integrity
 From the ITC Annual Survey 2008:
“Clearly, an undercurrent of the discussion is the assumption
that fraudulent activity is occurring in online courses. Sadly,
there is no definitive national data to confirm or refute this
assumption. We know that distance education programs are
vigilant in monitoring for fraud and dishonesty -- and based
on the realities of the HEOA -- programs will have to
redouble efforts going forward to ensure course and program
integrity.”
What you can do…
1. Continue to monitor the rule-making process under the
auspices of the US Department of Education
(recommendation: turn to leading organizations such as the
ITC to obtain regular updates)
2.Begin efforts to know where your campus is re academic
integrity – do you have a problem? Develop data/evidence
regarding practices you have put in place to ensure academic
integrity and to minimize fraudulent activity – work with
other institutions to pool data/practices
For more information:
 Websites:
 HEOA/US Department of Education:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html
 WCET website: www.wcet.info (WCET has been active on
the US Department of Education committee)
 ITC website: www.itcnetwork.org (includes electronic copy of
2008 national DE survey results and a discussion of the HEOA)
My contact information
Fred Lokken
Associate Dean, WebCollege & ASC
Truckee Meadows Community College
Reno, Nevada
(775) 673-7148
[email protected]