RSCC - Setting Expectations for e-Education

Setting Expectations for e-Education
Excellence in e-Education
http://xlents.com

Barry Dahl

Beautiful Duluth, MinnesotaBeautiful Superior, Wisconsin

Barry Dahl dot com

Great Expectations

Option 1 - PSOL

2009 PSOL – Summary Statement
So far, how has your college experience met your expectations?
Overall score
5.0

But seriously…

Another PSOL Example (2005)
12. There are sufficient offerings within my program of study.
Satisfaction Score: Max of 7.0
5.64
5.46

A Closer Look at Satisfaction (2005)
12. There are sufficient offerings within my program of study.
5.64
5.91
5.36
5.27

RSCC Expectations

Where is the Value in eLearning?
Why is RSCC engaged in eLearning?
What are the benefits to the college?
What are the driving factors?

Another Angle to Consider
What is the “right amount” of online learning?
10%
25%
50%

The Governor says (said) 25%
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty set a goal of 25% for online learning within the MnSCU state system of colleges and universities.
Why?

Do You Expect Online Learning to Cannibalize F-2-F Enrollments?

Expectations about Completion

Almost Weekly Journal Articles

What are Reasonable Expectations for Completion Rates for Online Learners?
And how do you know?

Students in Online Developmental Courses can’t possibly have decent completion rates.
Can they?

Grades Earned

Passing Grades in These Courses
N = 510
N = 2,226

Expectations about e-Education

You Already Have Expectations
The questions are …
How clearly have they been communicated?
How easy are they for the following to find?
Students?
Faculty?
Staff and Administration?

Example: Synchronous, or Not?
What should online students expect when taking an RSCC online class?
Are classes completely asynchronous?
Do some classes have synchronous requirements?
How do students know in advance at the time of registration?
Should they know in advance?

Example: Faculty Office Hours
What does the college expect with regard to office hours for faculty who teach online?
Do faculty have to make themselves available electronically at posted times each week?
Are services/software available that enable faculty to meet with students online?
Are certain modes of communication preferred?

Re: Expectations
The people who have set the expectations believe that they are common knowledge.
There’s no such thing as common knowledge when it comes to what the expectations are.
Your expectations are not the same as mine.

A Common Scenario
“What do you mean you expect interaction in online classes?”
“I’ve never heard that before.”
This came from a 10-year veteran of online teaching at the college.

Course Design Rubrics Can Help
V. LEARNER INTERACTION
General Review Standard: The effective design of instructor-learner interaction and
meaningful learner cooperation is essential to learner motivation, intellectual commitment,
and personal development. (From LSC Course Design Rubric)

Course Design Rubrics Can Help
But they only go so far.
Did the interactions actually occur?
Did the feedback actually happen in a timely manner?
Design rubrics don‘t tell you that.

Do You Evaluate Teaching Quality?
If not, why not?
If so, what do you base the evaluation on?
How clear are the expectations of the factors upon which they will be evaluated?

Have you clearly defined the following items?
What the college expects from online students.
What online students should expect from your college.
What the college expects from online faculty members.
What the online faculty should expect from the college.

Expectations for (of) Students
Most of what you’ll find online are along the lines of online orientations and readiness quizzes or lists.

St. Petersburg College
Examples of posted expectations for students:
Login to new courses during first week.
Recognize their ethical obligation, as members of the College community, to report any violation of the SPC Academic Honesty Policy.

Goodwin College
Examples of posted expectations:
Be courteous, polite and respectful – to faculty, staff and fellow students.
Use your Goodwin email.
Go through the orientation.
Meet all appropriate deadlines.

Lawrence Tech University
Be open-minded about sharing life, work, and educational experiences as part of the learning process. Introverts and extroverts find that online learning requires them to talk about their experiences. Sharing is made easier by the anonymity of the online environment.

University of South Carolina
Expectations for Attendance
Although online courses don't require students to attend class at specific time or place, students are still required to "attend" class. For an online course, this means you must:
Login to the Blackboard course the first day of class.
Email the instructor as prompted to confirm registration.
Login to your course each week of class (at a minimum).

Sample Topics: expectations of online students
First week of class
Attendance (engagement)
Internet access
Textbooks & other materials
College communications
Policies & Code of Conduct
Academic Honesty
Netiquette (civility)
Computer skills
Resolving technical problems
Course evaluations

College expectations of online students
Example - Textbooks
Students are expected to purchase textbooks or other required course materials IN ADVANCE of the start of the term, preferably 2-3 weeks prior to the start of the term to ensure that the books are in their possession at the start of the term.
Failure to acquire the required course materials in a timely manner is not an acceptable excuse for missing deadlines at the beginning of the course.

Sample topics: student expectations of the college
Course syllabi
Course length
Test proctoring
Evaluation & oversight
Feedback/response times
Textbook availability
Interaction
Time flexibility
Calendar due dates
Academic support
Technical support

Students’ expectations of the college
Example: Time flexibility
Students should expect to find a reasonable amount of time flexibility for completing course requirements. In online courses, time flexibility generally means the size of “windows of opportunity.”
For example, a 2-day time period to take an online exam or quiz represents the window of opportunity for that requirement.
Check the course syllabus or other faculty instructions to be sure that you understand how long you’ll have to complete various aspects of your online courses.

Expectations for (of) Faculty

St. Petersburg College
Examples of posted expectations for faculty:
Respond to email within 24 hours, 5 of the 7 days a week at the instructor’s discretion.
Exam marked within 7 days of due date.
Assignment marked within 7 days of due date
Routine updates to all students every 7 days.

Lawrence Tech University
Communicate with students enrolled in your course at least one month prior to the start of classes, and again approximately two weeks before the start of classes.
Check the discussion forum daily and be sure to post responses to student contributions at least four times weekly.

UMUC
Organize class activities to take place mostly in the online classroom, rather than by email, phone, or mail.
Respond to student inquiries within two business days, even if it is just to let students know that the instructor is working on the inquiry and will reply fully as soon as possible.

Penn State
If an instructor will be unable to log into the course for more than four business days (e.g., during professional travel), the instructor is asked to give one week's notice to students and to Outreach Student Services.
The instructor is asked to grade and submit to students all digitally formatted assignments and exams within two business days of receipt.

City University of New York
Responsiveness to Students’ Circumstances
Assignment deadlines and testing periods should not be set so that they fall within the typical work day. Instructors should remember that there are students who live in different time zones and, where there are specific end times for activities, indicate the time zone that will apply, e.g. 10:00 PM EST.
Instructors should keep track of religious holidays and other observances that might preclude participation for individual students.

Sample topics: college expectations of online faculty
Course design
Interaction w/students
Online office hours
Feedback/ response time
Teaching loads
Final exams
Proctored exams
Due dates/times
Sick/Personal leave

College expectations of online faculty
Example - Final Exams:
Online faculty are expected to give final exams (or due dates for other types of final projects) during the final exam period as established and posted by the college.
The final exam period typically consists of four weekdays and may or may not include a weekend. This schedule is posted on the college for each semester.

Sample topics: online faculty expectations of the college
Course offerings
Program offerings
Evaluation & oversight
New online faculty
Feedback/response times
Technology support
Off-campus faculty
Professional development
Intellectual prop. claims

Online faculty expectations of the college
Example – New online faculty
Faculty teaching online for the very first time should expect the following:
to receive instruction and help in online teaching from the e-Campus staff.
that a first online class will not be canceled if it receives at least ten student enrollments.
that a first online class will have a reduced maximum class size of 20 students.

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RSCC - Setting Expectations for e-Education

by Barry Dahl on Aug 23, 2011

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