What is Instructional Resources at Daytona State College?

Transcription

1 Faculty Guidelines What is Instructional Resources at Daytona State College? Instructional Resources is part of the Information Technology department that provides the technical infrastructure for a variety of distance learning courses. Every course offered through Falcon Online learning environment exemplifies commitment to academic quality, which is the hallmark of Daytona State College s educational offerings. Courses are developed and taught by Daytona State College faculty. All faculty hold credentials required by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or other appropriate accrediting body. Distance learning courses offer a variety of delivery modes: Online these courses are offered 80%-100% online; meeting dates may be scheduled for proctored tests if desired by the faculty member. Partially Online these courses are considered hybrid courses that allow between 30% -79% of the instruction is online and the remainder of instruction is face-to-face The vision of Instructional Resources is to provide learners with access to quality academic programs and resources in a sustainable, technology-based learning environment. The Vision for Instructional Resources will be achieved by implementing the following: 1. Support faculty in the creation of learning communities at a distance, 2. Provide mechanisms by which learners can establish a lifelong relationship with the College and its resources, 3. Maintain easy access to online offerings, 4. Provide high-quality academic services to online learners, 5. And offer a comprehensive high quality curriculum, leading to a degree or certificate. Mission

2 communication, whether dealing with Instructional Resources colleagues, faculty, students or staff. Conformance to Daytona State College Policies & Procedures Instructional Resources will comply with all Daytona State College Policies and Procedures. Daytona State College s Policies and Procedures, including the Faculty Handbook and the Student Handbook, are incorporated into this document by reference. Guidelines specific to Instructional Resources are set forth herein. Compensation, Office Hours, Load Requirements and Contracts Compensation for online courses (overload/adjunct): Number Of Credits Contact Hours Virtual Hours Pay Per Student 1 Credit $38.00 $ Credit $76.00 $ Credit $ $ Virtual Pay (Based on 25 Students) More/Less than 25 students: Faculty pay = number of paid students x $38 x number of credits Load Requirements: Online courses for full-time faculty may be taught as part of a load or as overload. The number of in-load or overloads, whether online or traditional, will be left to the discretion of the Department Chairs/Deans/Vice Presidents who monitor load and overload according to College policy. The compensation plan above is only for faculty teaching online courses as overload. Full-time faculty teaching online courses overload, will be compensated one (1) credit hour of supplemental pay for courses with students enrolled. Courses below 15 students cannot be taught in-load and will be offered at the discretion of the academic vice-presidents.

3 Office Hours: It is required that full-time faculty members have 25 hours on campus, regardless of online activity. A faculty member who normally has a load of 15 credit hours of traditional courses and 10 hours of office, and chooses to teach one three credit online course in-load, is required to have 13 hours of office hours. If that same faculty member chooses to teach two online courses as part of a load, then 16 hours of office hours are required. Load plus office hours must always add up to 25 hours (on campus). The posting of scheduled office hours should follow College policy. Contracts: Contracts for overload/adjunct pay for online courses are different from in-load teaching assignment contracts. Faculty teaching overload online courses and adjunct faculty teaching online courses will be paid at the end of each semester, or the closest pay date, after the end date of the course. Curriculum The Academic Departments are solely responsible for curriculum content, development, review and evaluation, and student learning outcomes. The College will provide usage data to Academic Departments. It is the Academic Department s responsibility to provide the leadership of Instructional Resources with the department s strategic plan outlining their department s vision. Course Management Academic Department Chairs will be responsible for management of online courses: scheduling, instructor assignments, enrollment issues, and updating the College s course catalog database. Course Development Courses developed for Daytona State College are subject to the standards set forth by the College and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and other appropriate accrediting bodies. Courses are accepted for delivery once they have met these standards and approved by the Academic Department to comply with student outcomes in alignment to the Master Course Description. Daytona State College maintains standards assuring quality for the distance learning courses that include the following: 1. A distance learning course or program must meet the same student learning outcomes as

4 an on-campus class. 2. Evaluation procedures for faculty involved with distance learning courses will be equitable to those used for on-campus instructional faculty. 3. Departmental evaluation of content and student course outcomes will provide a mechanism for continuous course improvement. Courses developed for distance-learning are property of Daytona State College, unless otherwise agreed by the college (see College Policy 3.10). Online Faculty New Faculty: In order to teach online, a faculty member must hold the appropriate credentials in their respective discipline as specified by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or other appropriate accrediting body and complete the LMS Academy (LMS ). LMS Academy: Faculty must complete the LMS Academy to teach distance-learning courses. Workshops, seminars and other resources are provided to assist faculty teaching at a distance. For more information visit the LMS Academy. Evaluation of Faculty, Curriculum, Courses, and Programs Course content and curriculum is the responsibility of the Academic Department. Departmental Chairs will monitor the student course outcomes based upon the current Master Course Description. The Chair will approve the delivery method sought by the faculty member and will approve final course content to ensure that all student course outcomes are met. Who the Learning Management System (LMS) is for: The Learning Management System is available for all faculty to use.

5 Course Offerings, Course Creation and Course Enrollment New distance learning offerings follow the same approval process as face-to-face courses. All college credit courses that have been approved and entered into the College s course catalog database will automatically be created in the online learning environment 90 days before the course start date. All non-college credit courses (e.g. Adult Education, Continuing Education, etc.) that would like to use the LMS must notify Instructional Resources 90 days before the course start date. Students will be enrolled in the Learning Management System seven days before the course start date. Enrollments into non-college credit courses are the responsibility of the respective department. Students will not have access until the first day of classes. Enrollments will be updated nightly at 2 AM until the end of the drop/add period. Attendance Verification: Distance learning courses follow the College s policies for attendance verification. In distance learning courses, every class must have an icebreaker or other assignment, which requires student participation to verify their attendance the first day. If the student has not accessed or responded to the icebreaker activity or other assignments then the student is considered not in attendance. Course Content and Curriculum Monitoring: Course content and curriculum are the responsibility of the faculty and academic department. Faculty using third-party content in their courses should notify Instructional Resources at least three months in advance of the start of a course to allow time to test and import the materials. Technical problems arising from third-party content are not the responsibility of Instructional Resources. Instructional Resources is only responsible for maintaining the College s Learning Management System. Delivery Design Faculty are responsible for the instructional delivery of distance learning courses. It is the responsibility of their academic department to ensure the quality of their online courses. Assistance is available in the Faculty Innovation Center if needed. Faculty and Staff Development The LMS Academy will offer training for faculty wishing to teach distance-learning courses. Faculty are enrolled in the LMS Academy when they are hired and are encouraged to complete the first four modules within their probationary period. Faculty members teaching distancelearning courses must complete all six modules. Workshops and training are available throughout the year on LMS usage and other instructional

6 tools through the Faculty Innovation Center. The Faculty Innovation Center is available to all faculty from all disciplines seeking help in understanding and using technology. Logins and Course Naming Conventions: User accounts follow the Information Technology guidelines including username format, password complexity and expiration. Course naming conventions will reflect those adopted by the College. Technical Support: The Online Helpdesk and FalconAid are available for faculty and students to help with distance learning issues. Full-time, part-time and student workers serving in these positions will have training on call management and troubleshooting techniques. Instructional Resources: Instructional resources available include: The LMS Academy FAQs Faculty Innovation Center Online Help Quickstart Guides Archiving of Courses: It is the responsibility of the instructor to backup his/her course. Courses will be removed after 3 years. Copyright Faculty must abide by all U.S. and international copyright laws regarding content placed in a distance-learning course or used in a classroom. Accessibility It is the responsibility of faculty to use the available resources to ensure that their course materials, including publisher content, meet the standards established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Access Initiative (WAI) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Student Issues

7 Distance learning students will have access to appropriate academic and instructional support services such as: A. Online tutoring through the Academic Support Center B. Helpdesk C. Academic advising through Counseling and Advising D. Electronic library services through the Library E. Online writing help through the DSC/UCF Writing Center Students enrolling for admission to distance learning courses and programs must meet the same requirements for admission as face-to-face students. All distance-learning courses fully conform to the College s academic integrity policy. Withdrawing from an Online Course Although it is not necessary to have approval from you instructor to withdraw from the course, it is a good idea to discuss the situation with your instructor. Many times the issue can be resolved with communication. However, if a decision has been made to withdraw, the procedure for withdrawing from any course at the College is: 1. Go to MyDaytonaState and login 2. Go to the Registration and Records menu 3. Go to Class Registration, and continue to the next page 4. Select the term you are registered for 5. Select the class you want to withdraw from and select the Drop button

8 2009 Rubric for Online Course Delivery Review Course: Instructor: Reviewer: s Active Learning Delivery design encourages students to be actively engaged, participating in course activities and developing critical thinking skills. Indicators (Please check all that are observed) Chat rooms or discussion boards where students discuss ideas or key concepts from course content. Students ask questions and give/receive input or reflect on others work, concepts, and coursework. Feedback/Assessment and Progress Delivery design includes assessment tools and methodology used to evaluate student progress. Indicator (Please check all that are observed) There are a variety of assessment techniques. Assessment methods are geared to multiple learning styles. Grades are provided to students in online grade book. Expectations for each form of assessment are clearly stated. All assessment is done online. Self-assessment tools such as reviews are available for student use. Indicator (Please check all that are observed) Time on Task Delivery design includes A posted calendar is used to clearly state

9 mechanisms that will keep students moving toward completion. assignments and due dates. Lesson units/chapter content is/are logically organized. Syllabus is easily found and contains all information required. Exams and assignments are inaccessible after a certain date. Indicator (Please check all that are observed) Collaboration Peers with Delivery design facilitates studentto-student interaction. Clear expectations of communication through use of a standards rubric for chat-room or discussion board (graded). Threaded discussion with peer groups where rules of netiquette apply. Opportunities for non-graded student interaction are available. Required initial interaction, such as an icebreaker. Interaction with Course Faculty Delivery design facilitates studentto-faculty interaction. Indicator (Please check all that are observed) Clear expectations are stated for student-tofaculty interaction.

10 Faculty engages in communication students. with Course has welcome message in News with Instructor s name included. Response time occurs within two business days. Require regular discussion questions with faculty interaction that facilitates and encourages participation. Contact information is posted on course homepage and/or syllabus along with preferred method of communication. Faculty uses News to communicate with students. Indicator (Please check all that are observed) High expectations in Content and Delivery Design Course content is challenging and delivery is clear and organized. Information is available on how late assignments will be handled. Ease of navigation through course site with clearly defined course modules/units/chapters. Student learning outcomes are listed. Assignment directions are clear. Specific tips for course success are posted. Answers to most common questions asked by students are posted at the course site FAQ.

11 Unused learning management system features are disabled so that students do not see them and try to use them. Location where students can suggest ways to improve the course. This information is collected and used to improve the course. Indicator (Please check if observed) Respect for Diversity of Learning and Worldviews The course is accessible to disabled and global students. Course information includes a statement that accommodations are available to students through Student Disability Services.