distance education programs: best practices for rural community colleges
TRANSCRIPT
DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS:
BEST PRACTICES FOR RURAL COMMUNITY COLLEGES
PRESENTERS
Yasminda Choate
Assistant Professor of English
405-382-9289
Kendall Rogers
Assistant Professor of Psychology/ Coordinator of Student Success
405-382-9691
SEMINOLE STATE COLLEGE
Seminole State College, established in 1931 as Seminole Junior College, is located in the central portion of the state in Seminole, Oklahoma, population approximately 7,500.
THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT
TYPICAL CC STUDENT
25 and older (43%)
Employed
Parents with Children at Home
Low Income
Minority
SSC STUDENT
25 and older (33%)
Employed
Parents with Children at Home
Low Income (93% receiving financial aid)
Minority (35%)
SSC DISTANCE EDUCATION STUDENT
Full-time Students
1,046
Enrolled in online courses only
38
Part-time Students
807
Enrolled in online courses only
161
106 Students enrolled in online classes live in SSC Housing
DISTANCE EDUCATION
DISTANCE EDUCATION PROBLEMS
• Academic rigor
• Academic dishonesty
• Lower rate of student success
• Increase in attrition
• Increase in cost
• Faculty confidence
• Technology
DETAILS THAT PROMPTED A HARD LOOK AT BEST PRACTICES FOR SSC
A Review of Other Colleges Yielded:
Short Online Courses
High Enrollment from Out-of-State Students
High Net Profits
Probation for another college
SHOULD WE PANIC?!
SOME COLLEGES IMMEDIATELY RECONSIDERED THEIR DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSE OFFERINGS.
DON’T PANIC. PLAN!
THE BENEFITS AND DETRIMENTS OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
A BETTER PLAN:BEST PRACTICES FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Members of the Distance Education Committee should include faculty from every department, administrators, staff including IT specialists, and staff from Student Success Services.
STEP 1: FORM A COMMITTEE
The Committee must align the goals and activities of the Distance Education Committee with the Institution’s Strategic Plan.
STEP 2: STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT
STEP 3: OBTAIN CAMPUS BUY-IN
ADMINISTRATION
Create Policies and Procedures Manual that corresponds with existing campus documents.
FACULTY
Devise system to ensure academic rigor and quality assurance.
Provide professional development for faculty.
STEP 4: CONTROL FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
Minimize attrition due to foreseeable problems.
Create assessment for student ability to complete online course.
Counsel students before they enroll in online course.
Publish requirements and rigor of online courses.
STEP 5: SUPPORT STUDENT SUCCESS
Minimize attrition due to foreseeable problems.
Provide training modules to train students to use online course platform.
Increase student counseling/tutoring opportunities to provide aid to online students.
http://www.sscok.edu/distanceeducation/
STEP 6: MONITOR FOR QUALITY
Request student feedback surveys for every online course every semester.
Review student success rates for every online course every semester. Compare online data with data from same courses in other formats.
Continue on-going faculty professional development and assessment of teaching methods.
QUALITY MATTERS
Quality Matters is....
A set of standards (rubric) for the design of online and blended courses
A peer review process (faculty to faculty) for reviewing and improving online and hybrid courses
A faculty support tool used by instructional development staff
A professional development opportunity
https://www.qualitymatters.org/
ON-GOING CONSIDERATIONS
• Growing Pains with the Distance Education Test Proctoring Center
• Proctoring Center Staffing• Communicating with Students• Communicating and Organizing Faculty
• Growing Pains with Quality Matters• Perceived Loss of Academic Freedom for
Instructors
References
Allen, Silas. (2013, April 18). Western Oklahoma State College on probation after review of online
courses. News OK. [Web]. Retrieved from http://newsok.com/western-oklahoma-state-college-
on-probation-after-review-of-online-courses/article/3790477
Aragon, S. and Johnson, E. (2008). Factors influencing completion and noncompletion of community
college online courses. American Journal of Distance Education, 22.3, 146-158. Doi:
10.1080/08923640802239962
Fox, Armando. (2013). Viewpoint: From MOOCs to SPOCs. Communications of the ACM, 56.12, 38-40.
Doi:10.1145/2535918
Harrell, I. and Bower, B. (2011). Student characteristics that predict persistence in community college
online courses. American Journal of Distance Education, 25.3, 178-191. Doi:
10.1080/08923647.2011.590107
Mytelka, Andrew. (2013, April 19). Western Oklahoma State College is put on Probation over Quick-
Credit Courses. Chronicle of Higher Education. [Web]. Retrieved from
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/western-oklahoma-state-college-is-put-on-probation-over-
quick-credit-courses/58887
National Center for Education Statistics. (2008, August 20). Community Colleges: Special Supplement to
The 2008 Condition of Education. [Web]. Retrieved from
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/analysis/2008-index.asp
Tirrell, T. and Quick, D. (2012). Chickering’s seven principles of good practice: Student attrition in
community college online courses. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 36.8,
580-590. Doi: 10.1080/10668920903054907
Tutty, J. and Ratliff, J. (2012). Techniques for improving online community college completion rates:
Narrow the path? Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 36, 916-920. Doi:
10.1080/10668926.2012.692300