New Policies
Given I do not work for an institution, I truly cannot answer this question. If I did work for an institution, though, I imagine one of the new policies regarding online delivery of courses and programs would be centered around faculty "office hours from x to x on M/W/F or T/Th" to answer questions via chat and/or telephone. For distance learners, I think it is important to be able to have a real back/forth dialogue with your instructor from time to time. Not only will it help ensure learning objectives are being met, but making yourself available to students also is likely to increase student satisfaction and retention. It is a policy I believe schools should consider.
What are some of the new policies regarding online delivery of courses and programs at your institution?
At this point in time we do not offer any online courses. There are several classes I teach that I believe could be taught online.
Students will need to post attendance at least five days in a discussion thread along with a minium of three responses to someone elses thread.
Actually, we are working really hard on the lesson plans of the different subjects to start with them online. We have only one course on line so far.
At the time we are preparing the teachers who are going to be in charge of developing the courses on line.
That sounds good!!!We should not sit on our knowledge,learning new things everyday help us as professionals and at the same time we are helping the institution that employs us
In our institution teachers must take two or more continue education courses each semester with the purpose of been updated and obtain better results.In the case of our school it is a great help as we are implementing new programs and online classes.
Online instructors need to take courses in order to improve their skills. At this time in my institution we're implementing new online programs which allow the students to fulfill their goals.
Online instructors need more training in order to deliver better courses in my institution
We are in the process of add more online classe.
Currently I am using Moodle as the portal for our LMS system. Moodle is a free-ware program easy to use after a little training or reading of several books. I like the way it works and the applications it provides. I have Moodle set up on a Linux Server but it is ported for Windows if this is your preference.
One of the new policies we have is how often instructors have to provide "direct instruction" by participating in online threaded discussions. We are in the process of debating this now. Some faculty say there should be no minimum requirements, others say 3/7 days per week, others say 4/7 days per week, others say 5/7 days per week.
I prefer 4/7 days per week.
I too agree that chat rooms and response to all emails is very important because there is no face to face contact. Responding to emails in a timely manner would make the student feel more connected with the instructor.
Tanveer,
Good. If instructors are trained, they will be more likely to stay on for future semesters.
Linda Scharp
New policies regarding online delivery of courses and programs at our institution are that students most post attendance in classes by posting an answer to a discussion, turning in a homework assignment or quiz. Another one is a pilot policy that students taking entry Math and English college classes must submit to a computer compentency test before being enrolled in school to see any weaknesses they may have so that they can be corrected and hopefully have a better online college experience.
At my school we are currently setting up chat rooms for our teachers. This way they can have office hours for both resident and online students.
Online delivery of courses and programs are strictly completed through a rigorous form of training to ensure the best instructors.
Mary,
Hmm. I think posting and uploading offer a better picture of student participation.
Linda Scharp
Lianett,
This approach to hybrid learning is new to me. Does it work well?
Linda Scharp
The institute where I work currently use hybrid classes. The classes are front to front, but the homeworks and tests are online. Also the students can access to a online class where they can find practice problems and resources for each competency.
