Module 9-Policy document to guide the practice of distance education
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Look up these terms and Develop a 1-page summary of your findings and put on website.
- include one url for each search phrase that provide access to the most informative and insightful results of your search.
- Post your summary on your site (word count: 500-800 words). Place a word count at the end of your answer.
- Managing e-learning, First, You need a strong and knowledgeable leader.administrator who has created and managed online- learning systems.
Next you need to ensure the following are in place:
https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/335070/6-Most-Important-Things-You-Can-Do-Before-Developing-An-eLearning-Course - In managing e-learning, identify the problems that may arise:
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- Lack of alignment
- Poor communication
- Improper implementation
- Poor sequencing in the Instructional Design portion.
The Project Manager and the Instructional Designer will need to the following:
- Define the project
- Scope the course
- Define who the project is for
- Plan the course
- Choose the e-learning system
- Analyze and design the course
- Decide how the project will be executed
- Conceptualize what is needed in the project
- Identify the project’s challenges
- Ensure the functionality of the project
- Develop a timeline,
- Indicate who will do the jobs, when and where
- 2.How the project will be executed, which e-learning Learning Managing System
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(see below)
A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of educational courses or training programs or learning and development programs.[1] The learning management system concept emerged directly from e-Learning.
The quote (below) describes what I think is the best way to begin to think about the best e-learning management systems. “E-learning works best when it’s modular, with short, focused segments with a clear purpose that could each stand on its own as a piece of learning”. https://www.kineo.com/insights/the-scope-s-the-thing
You need to decide what components you will need before you decide on the best learning management system. Then you can begin to scope and design the project and the menu components and to develop a logical flow to the e-learner so you need to define the project and it’s learners before deciding on the best e learning system to use.
Here is a chart of some models of systems.
So in deciding which Learning Management System to use, you must begin reviewing its best practices and how to implement them. Do you want a fully online course or a blended/hybrid program?
Some common Learning Management Systems that I have used are:
- Moodle,
- Blackboard,
- Canvas,
Other examples of LMS are the following but I have not personally used them:
- A-Tutor
- Dokeos
- Edmodo
- Ilias
- Saba
The list goes on and on….But in order to choose the best LMS for your course you need easy and accessible and a system that allows you to create and track learning on any device in today’s e learning systems. A system that allows you to create and develop a course from lesson to topic and then to a test easily and allows for easy open communication between students and instructors and to easily assess the learners comprehension is a must.
3.e-learning administrative leadership.
Online education is rapidly changing and will only continue to do so, thus a good administrator needs to be able and willing to change and adapt well and to be flexible. The many important duties performed by a good e- administrator are the following:
- Accreditation
- Assessment Systems
- Curriculum Development
- Human Resources
- Information and Communication Technologies
- Policy Development
- Quality Assurance
- Strategic Planning
This quote says it well.“. It is imperative that leadership trends and techniques be evaluated in the educational field, particularly in reference to alternative learning programs. Administrative Leadership in Open and Distance Learning Programs is a pivotal scholarly resource that discusses emerging issues surrounding the administration of non-traditional education practices. Highlighting relevant topics that include policy development, quality assurance, accreditation, and assessment systems, this publication is an ideal reference source for educators, academicians, graduate students, and researchers that are interested in the progression of open and distance education.” https://www.elearninglearning.com/leadership/
This quote says it well.
It is important for good ongoing administration and quality leadership to place focus on continued professional development to ensure employee retention and to remain updated in the latest advances in online learning. Albeit challenging to develop personal interaction among learners in an e learning environment the most important characteristics of a strong leader is one who strategically interacts for collaboration and strategic decision making and has a strong vision for the course and its learners.
620 word count
2.Develop a policy document to guide the practice of distance education based on the scenario you create. First step is to develop a scenario to set the stage.
First step is to develop a scenario to set the stage. This may be based on your current position (many of you are already in management positions) or a fictitious location. Suggested things to answer (though you don’t need to list them this way.):Scenario well defined (8 points) Scenario well defined (8 points)
- The setting is educational and the level is an undergraduate community college students; all of whom are required to take HUMA 1315,Art Appreciation course, no matter what their major is. All instructors are required to hold MFA degrees in art in order to teach this course. The college is located in central Texas hill country at Fort Hood campus , so there are many military and retired military taking this course which is totally and fully an online course taught for two months and is self paced so no deadlines for assignments, as long as the course is completed by the last day. Every instructor is required to take an online training course for Black Board 9.1. Online class sizes are ranging from 30-44 students. My role ia an art instructor who updates the course before the course begins, which means: Setting up the Discussion Board with at least 4 discussions, posting a welcome announcement at the announcements page, posting a syllabus with detailed dates of weekly assignments and includes a grade/points scale, policies regarding disabilities and plagiarism, set up weekly modules ,an assignments/writing link and lastly setting up the grade book.
“Having everyone on the same page with documented rules and regulations helps an organization stay on track to complete their goals”
We need policies which will directly contribute to the overall success of any community college e learning program. These policies and procedures will work together as they are written statements of the rules, and the procedures are instructions which give steps to follow the rules set out by the policy. "Policies and procedures help with the consistency of decisions an organization makes, and play a crucial role when it comes to operational actions."
Second step is to prepare a policy and procedure manual related to distance education based on your scenario. Organize the document around the four subsystems presented in your text plus accessibility issues. For purposes of this assignment accessibility is broadly defined. It includes disabilities, but also outreach to underserved populations and global populations.
- You must have at least 3 statements under each of the five categories (That means a total of 15 policy/procedure statements).
- These should be unique to the scenario you presented. Someone that is the director of distance education at a large university would write different policies than someone that provides faculty support for distance ed at an elementary school.
- Keep your statements brief. In actual policy document you might find paragraphs and subparagraphs on each of the topics. But those take months, even years to develop and are usually done in teams. What you need here are statements such as:
“All online classes will be developed using the community college template designed to assist the students in feeling comfortable in any online course and to insure appropriate representation of the college.”Note that the example has a statement of policy but then includes a rationale.
Part 2 Policy and Procedures
1. Regulatory Subsystem
1. Decision Making - The Online Training Course will conduct a Needs Assessment. This will help determine the learner’s background knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards SIOP Sheltered Instruction.
2. Planning – The planning will be based on the ELPS Standards to meet State compliance and the needs of the learners while using best practices.
3. Assessment- There will be Pre-and Post-Assessment executed in order to determine the effectiveness of the course and to ensure high quality instruction.
2. Course Subsystem –
1. Instructional Development – A mixture of direct instruction and exploration will be part of the sessions. This will help with the terminology. In addition, instructors will be given assignments that will allow them to explore and identify the key components of using BlackBoard.
2. Training – We will train how to use Revel for Henry Sayer's A World of Art. This will entail how to use the basic functions and its features.
3. Individual Course Evaluation – An individual survey will be provided at the end of the course that will rank its effectiveness, relevance, feedback for suggestions and for strengths.
3. Student Subsystem
1. Information Provided Online – The Menu will have the Course Syllabus, Faculty information,Mesaging, and Text book available in a electronic format,Modules with lessons which include videos and links to websites,tests,. Each session will provide Discussion questions, along with a link to additional resources. The sessions will be in numerical order. Each assignment will have examples of what the outcome of the assignments should look like and clear instructions.
2. Contact Information – The instructor’s contact information; email, and office number will be available on the homepage. Office Hours will be posted and instructor's website will be posted. It will be easy to locate for the students and they can ask questions to the instructor directly.
3. Responses to Request – The response rate to any emails will be within24 hours during the week and48 hours dueing the weekends. In addition, there will be a discussion where students may post questions. This will be another way students can get their questions answered. This will beopneed to the entire class not only the instructor.
4. Logistical Subsystem
1. Life Long Learners – Facilitators will continuously attend professional development to acquire the latest best practices for Distance Education. This will help deliver quality instruction.
2. Purchasing/Maintaining Equipment – The latest web resources and software will be utilized to give the best quality of instruction through the synchronous and asynchronous tools.
3. Faculty Training – It is required for faculty to attend Professional Development that pertains to best practices for Distance Education and for the Courses Software Resources that will be used.
5. Assecesibility
1. Disabilities-There are policies set up for people with disabilities according to the dissabilities act but also outreach to underserved populations and global populations so there are experiences that provide access for all. The course can be completed online, or downloaded in a number of common file formats, including for e-readers and as a PDF.
2.Accessibility is about both technical and usable access for people with blind person using a screen reader, they may not be able to relate the data in each cell to its column or row heading, so the meaning of the data is lost in the process, rendering the table unusable for that person.
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
4.Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is considered the first law to declare civil rights for people with disabilities.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires electronic communications and information technologies, such as websites, email, or web documents, to be accessible. For video content, closed captions are a specific requirement mentioned in Section 508.
https://www.3playmedia.com/2018/02/01/accessibility-laws-for-online-learning-content/