Transcript Slide 1

Regulatory Trends and
Accreditation Issues in
Distance Education
CCCCIO Fall 2012 Confernce
Patricia James, Dean, Library, Technology, and Distance Education,
Mt. San Jacinto College
James Glapa-Grossklag, Dean, Educational Technology, Learning Resources, and Distance
Learning, College of the Canyons
We gratefully acknowledge collaboration on an earlier version of this presentation with:
Andrea Henne, Dean, Online and Distributed Learning, San Diego Community College District
Stephanie Low, Vice President, Academic Affairs and Accreditation, Hartnell College
Handout: http://my.msjc.edu/web/handout2.pdf
In CCCs, distance learning continues to grow:
•2005-06: 12.48% of total headcount (unduplicated)
•2009-10: 23.54% of total headcount (unduplicated)
In US, over 6 million students took at least one online
class last year.
•Institutions indicating ‘‘Online education is critical to
the long-term strategy of my institution’’ reached its
highest level in 2011 (65.5%).
Session Outline:
I. Recent external regulatory demands
A. Student authentication
B. Last date of attendance / Title IV
C. State approval
II. Lack of clarity and consensus
A. Categorizing distance education
B. DE or CE?
III. What works and what doesn’t
A. Effective practices
B. Main Resources
Student Authentication
Academic Integrity and Authentication
HEOA requires accreditors to require institutions
“to have processes through which the
institution establishes 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.”
(emphasis added)
Examples of Processes and Practices
1) College LMS
2) Proctored assessment
3) LMS log-in statement
4) Academic integrity in DE training
5) Plagiarism detection software
Why is it important to us???
What the ACCJC is looking for
Institutions must use:
a) secure log-in and password, OR proctored
examinations, OR
b) and/or new or other technologies
c) and/or practices that are developed and
effective in verifying each student’s
identification
Last date of
attendance /
Title IV
By Knterox
Who is attending
class?
Online attendance
=
Academically related activity
State Approval
By Sailormoms
Categorizing Distance Education…
or is it Distance Learning?
By djc114
State Definition
• “Distance education means instruction in
which the instructor and student are
separated by distance and interact through
the assistance of communication
technology.”
• Same course-quality standards
• Regular, effective contact
• Separate curricular review
• Federal definition not much different
DE or CE?
Correspondence Education
• Instructional material provided by mail or
electronic transmission (including
examinations) to students who are separated
from the instructor
• Limited interaction between student and
instructor and primarily initiated by students
• A course that is typically self-paced
34 C.F.R. § 602.3 (Definitions)
So What?
“We concluded the College was not eligible to
participate in [federal financial aid] because 50%
or more of its students were enrolled in
correspondence courses… We recommend…
require the college to return to the U.S.
Department of Education the $42,362,291 in
Title IV funds disbursed…”
Final Title IV Audit Report, Executive Summary
What works
and what
doesn’t
ACCJC Web Seminar:
DE on the Front Burner: New Regulations,
New Challenges and Accreditation
Spring 2012
http://tinyurl.com/accjcDE
DE Coordinators’ Web Seminar Meetings
http://www.onefortraining.org/coordinators
Main Resources
•
•
•
•
DE Coordinator
@ONE
Online Teaching Conference
Distance Education Captioning and
Transcription grant
• DE webinars
• ACCJC DE webinar
Patricia James, Dean, Library and Technology,
Mt. San Jacinto College:
[email protected]
James Glapa-Grossklag, Dean, Educational Technology,
Learning Resources, and Distance Learning,
College of the Canyons:
[email protected]