EICCD Online Offerings (including Hybrids)
Note: This is just a beginning, sort of a concept paper on what would be entailed in
fast-tracking and organizing EICCD's ONLINE/HYBRID DEVELOPMENT
Note: We already have a lot of the pieces of this work done, particularly the online offerings we both
originate and teach as part of the Iowa Community College Online Consortium, the ACT Programs, and Education to Go and others available through Continuing Education.
Note: We need to do more, however. We need to pull together our online and hybrid offerings into a
central web-based location with common look and feel and ease of access/registration, etc., and provide support from that web location for online/hybrid students. We need to use our website to market our online offerings since many students seeking online offerings only search online.
And we need to develop more online and hybrid courses.
Note: If we build this infrastructure, we should also be able to use it to develop online segments of our
now being beefed-up and systematized internal Professional Development offerings, including both
purely online content and our own "hybrids."
Goal: To fast track the combination of existing and new elements to create and market a full "online college" -- which will include our hybrid courses -- for EICCD.
Benefits for Students and the District
Fully online education programs, courses, and certificates (collectively called EICCD Online), along with a set of hybrid courses, offer significant benefits to students and to the District. Benefits for students include:
Improved access: Students can access courses from work or home; fewer transportation and parking problems; freedom to take courses at times that fit the student's schedule, more productivity since students from throughout the district can enroll in one section rather than three separate face-to-face sections; hybrids combine many of these "convenience" attributes with opportunities for face-to-face interaction and real-time instruction and guidance from the instructor.
Improved educational opportunities: Students can continue in their courses and programs even if they move out of the District (including military deployment); students can shift between online and campus-based courses as required to meet their needs; students can access more course and program opportunities that fit their needs.
Potential improvements in student retention and success: for those students who thrive in the online/hybrid format, higher rates of retention and learning outcomes; with hybrids, course delivery can suit a variety of learning styles.
Enriched learning experiences for tech-savvy students. So much information and instruction is now available on the web that integrating web-based content and interaction into courses meets the learning style preferences of many students, particularly younger students.
Benefits for the District include:
enhanced ability to compete with other education providers who are increasingly offering online and hybrid formats. increased enrollment due to increased access to students who cannot access traditional course patterns due to life style or scheduling problems a way to offer some of our niche programs outside our regions, both in the state and nationally
capacity district-wide to respond to the growing student demand for online services and access to information. Using the EICCD Online infrastructure to also provide access to web-based elements of EICCD's professional development plan, in particular online training and mentoring opportunities for online faculty, will reduce duplication of effort.
What is my vision of EICCD Online (or whatever we choose to call it?)
EICCD Online should be designed based on an accessible, easy-to-navigate, attractive template for all courses and support services that serves as the basis for marketing, enrollment, service, course delivery, and continuous improvement of online/hybrid courses of exceptional quality.
A Gateway or Portal to EICCD Online for New and Continuing Students. The Portal will include information potential students need to see what is available in online and hybrid format and to make an informed decision about enrolling in all courses under the umbrella of EICCD Online, including hybrid courses. This could include lists of degrees, programs, certificates and courses available online; activities to assess the potential student's technical and personal readiness for online education; connections to online/hybrid faculty to ask questions, information about accreditation and transferability of online and hybrid courses and programs; testimonials from successful online students, and methods for students to continuously evaluate the quality of service and learning.
EICCD Online Platform and Information Architecture. The EICCD Online infrastructure will be developed (or expanded) to fully interface with the current District information systems and services already available online to students.
Material specific to our overall online and hybrid programs will also be made available, including FAQ's related to the district's online offerings and programs, bulletin boards with updates and announcements for all online/hybrid students, chat rooms and threaded conferences, a help desk available 24/7, links to all online services for students, links to existing course syllabi, additional multi-media opportunities for interaction among current and potential students and the district, routes to online testing or other acceptable methods of assessment of student learning, streaming video, course schedules, and access to online grade sheets, and other online/hybrid course information and assistance. (Much of this is provided currently for online courses through e-College.)
Online Student Services and Academic Support Services. EICCD Online students will experience all services they could receive at a campus, with transparent interface with District web page, Datatel services, and other district web-based services. Online student services should be clearly identified to students on the EICCD ONLINE Portal and should include online application, assessment, advising, registration, fee payment, financial aid, bookstore services, library services, and assistance for students with disabilities. Online academic support services will include orientation, online counseling and advising, educational planning, tutoring, library services, an academic help desk, services for students with disabilities, student code of conduct, and connections to campus life.
Highest Quality Online Courses, Credit and Non-Credit. Courses delivered through EICCD Online will be reviewed continually to ensure that student learning outcomes in online courses will be equivalent to those of students in their classroom counterparts. Courses design will use a common template, with the use of multiple technologies in courses and maximum use of interactivity, active, cooperative, and applied learning in the students' learning experiences. Courses will be designed so that a number of different faculty members could teach the basic course outline with some customization. All courses should include a system of ongoing, accumulative online/hybrid course and program evaluation. Common elements to online and hybrid courses could include learning and teaching formats and activities best suited to assist students in mastering the learning outcomes (CD's, textbooks, audio and video tapes, links to Web sites, etc.).
When appropriate and cost-effective, the purchase and/or lease of existing online courses and course materials will be considered.
When possible and appropriate, self-paced or faster-paced versions of courses will be available and perhaps we can even create open-entry/open-exit courses.
Online Faculty and Staff Development. All participants in the development and teaching of new online degree and certificate programs will benefit from training and technical assistance. Support services, including a faculty help desk, a mentoring program, and workshops for faculty and for managers and classified staff that will support the online system, should be available online. Faculty and staff also must be connected to technology expertise to help anticipate and adjust to future technical developments that will impact or enrich online/hybrid learning. Accomplishments and successes of online teaching/learning/service will be recognized and celebrated.
Marketing, both online and off-line. A District-wide marketing strategy for EICCD Online will ensure that all District printed materials provide clear information about online options, including hybrid courses. Student satisfaction, retention, and learning outcomes should be continually monitored and changes made as needed to increase student success and ease of use. The marketing plan will also strategize formal links to senior institutions' online programs for the junior/senior year online experience and to the websites and online training of current and future employers. The EICCD Online program will be designed and adapted as needed to facilitate higher educational and corporate online learning partnerships.
Administrative and Contractual Issues. Administrative and contractual issues to be clarified could include intellectual property rights, the location and management structure of EICCD Online, the feasibility of using teams of faculty to create standard course outlines for online courses, and faculty incentives for developing and teaching online courses.
Question:
How do we . . . . .
Build the "EICCD ONLINE" centralized portal where potential students can find everything they need to find, enroll in, partake of, and evaluate online and hybrid courses available from EICCD.
Collect and move our existing online offerings into a central infrastructure for ease of student access and common student and faculty support.
Identify which existing class-room based credit and, in particular, non-credit programs and courses can be converted into online/hybrid format and located under the umbrella of EICCD ONLINE over the next three years.
Identify any brand new courses and programs not currently offered which could be developed directly into online or hybrid format.
Come up with a step-by-step, phased in plan to make this happen?