Distance Education Handbook

Table of Contents

Introduction        3

SDCCD Online Learning Pathways History        3

Procedures        4

Learning Management System        4

Instructional Shells        4

Online Students        4

Course Archives        5

Instructor of Record        5

Instructor Removal/Access Denied        5

Substitute        5

Access to Courses        5

Online Faculty Certification Program (OFCP)        5

Academic Integrity        7

Tools & Artificial Intelligence (AI)        8

Curriculum and Instruction        8

ADA Statement:        9

Contact Type:        9

Accessibility of Distance Learning Courses  and Students with Disabilities        9

Student Code of Conduct        10

Camera Recommendations        10

Netiquette        10

Copyright        11

Section 55200 - Definition and Application        11

Section 55202 - Course Quality Standards        11

Section 55204 - Regular Substantive Interaction        12

Section 55206 - Curriculum: Separate Course Approval        13

Section 55208 - Faculty Selection and Workload        13

Section 55210 - Ongoing Responsibility of Districts        13

Section 58003.1 - Fiscal Support        13

Syllabus        14

Liquid Syllabus        14

Sample Course Syllabus        14

The California Virtual Campus (CVC)        15

Course Design Rubric        16

Online Course Review Information        16

Faculty Training and Support        19

One on One Training        19

Online Faculty Webinars        19

Online Faculty Certification Program        19

Appendix A. Faculty Agreement        20

Appendix B. Copyright        20

Appendix C. Competencies Checklist        21

Checklist of Competencies for Designing and Teaching Using Canvas        21

Appendix D. Assuring That Your Online Course is Ready for Prime Time        27

Appendix E. Recommended Components of a Learning Module        32

Appendix F. Instructure Course Evaluation Checklist        34

Appendix G. Mobile Evaluation Checklist:        40

Mobile Design Resources        42

Appendix H. Accessibility of Distance Learning Courses for Students with Disabilities        42

Introduction

The SDCCD Distance Education Handbook has been compiled through a collaborative effort by the Districtwide Distance Education Steering Committee, Faculty Mentors, and the SDCCD Online Learning Pathways staff.

The Handbook is meant to provide faculty with guidelines in developing online courses following best practices and to provide resources regarding Federal and State Regulations, ACCJC Standards for Distance Education, and related SDCCD Board Policies and Procedures.

The Handbook is posted at: SDCCD Distance Education Handbook.

Brian Weston M.P.A
Dean, Online & Distributed Learning SDCCD Online Learning Pathways

SDCCD Online Learning Pathways History

SDCCD Online Learning Pathways (SDOLP) was created in 2001 as part of a District Technology Innovation Grant. The then president of Miramar College was coordinator of the grant and formed a steering committee. The steering committee assisted in the hiring of a dean, instructional designer, and an administrative assistant. The new dean worked with faculty and administrators to guide the direction of SDOLP. Today, SDCCD Online Learning Pathways continues to expand the support faculty receive through the 8,000+ classes, 800 online certificates awarded, and over 2,000 workshop attendees throughout the 20/21 academic year. The mission of SDOLP is to provide distance education faculty and students with resources and to grow the number of online courses in the district. SDCCD Online Learning Pathways adheres to the following core values and services to assure distance education quality:

1. To provide high-quality instructional services to our teaching-learning community—the faculty, staff, and students of City, Mesa, Miramar, and Continuing Education.
2. To foster instructional leadership in the adoption of best practices for the use of technology to promote educational effectiveness.
3. To promote quality innovative approaches to teaching and learning via technology-mediated instruction.

With the continued support from faculty and administrators, SDCCD Online Learning Pathways has developed the Online Faculty Certificate Program, workshops, and summits for distance education. The Districtwide Distance Education Steering Committee continues to help guide SDOLP, promote online learning, and provide recommendations for distance education.

Procedures

Learning Management System

The District has adopted Canvas as the supported Learning Management System (LMS). The LMS provides tools for instruction to support communication, assessments, grade book, and much more.

Faculty are encouraged to use Canvas because of the additional benefits it provides such as student/faculty helpdesk support, authentication, information security, demonstrating regular and substantive interactions, embedded student support services, and providing student data for audits.

Our Canvas instance can be accessed via: https://sdccd.instructure.com/.

Instructional Shells

Faculty have access to two types of course shells within Canvas:

• Instructional (teaching) course shells: have registered students pre-loaded
• Development course shells: not intended to have students; used primarily for building course content and can serve as a “saved” copy of the course

Teaching course shells are automatically created and become available about a month before student registration, once the class schedule is completed.

Faculty will then need to transfer content from their development shell(s) to their designated teaching shell(s).

Faculty are encouraged to develop their courses in development shells before loading content into teaching shells. Please have your 10-digit ID ready and indicate that you are with the San Diego Community College District.

To request a development shell:

• Use Canvas Support Chat feature
• Submit a Canvas Faculty Support Help Desk Form (Learn how to complete the form.)

Online Students

Students are sent a welcome email approximately one week prior to their class starting. The letter provides students with information regarding when courses may open, to check the instructor’s syllabi, Canvas support, technical requirements, and Student Prep & Online Training (SPOT).

Students are added to teaching shells about two weeks before the course starts. The course remains hidden until it is published.

Faculty are encouraged to create an "Orientation/Getting Started" module available before the first day to ensure students have access, familiarize themselves with the layout, and see important announcements. Help students navigate course information and avoid cognitive overload by setting module prerequisites/requirements to release content by date or upon completion.

Before publishing the course, it is also recommended to adjust the settings to limit or extend student access to past enrollments in Canvas.

Course Archives

SDOLP maintains the District’s learning management system (Canvas) that offers a platform for online courses to be offered. Course archives are the instructor's responsibility to save, if desired. Academic grade records must be kept for a minimum of two years as student’s can ‘challenge’ a grade within that period. See BP 4231 and procedures AP 5040 and AP 4231.

Instructor of Record

The instructor of record is the main course instructor as assigned by the dean. When course(s) are assigned, the District will automatically create a course shell and populate it with student enrollment. SDOLP cannot change the instructor of record. Unless permitted, instructors may not self-enroll students or visitors to their courses.

Instructor Removal/Access Denied

When an instructor of record is changed in the District’s system, the original instructor will have access to the course unless requested for removal.

Substitute

In cases where the instructor of record is absent for a period of time (due to illness or inability to continue teaching the class), the Dean will assign a substitute and change the instructor of record. Please be aware that the substitute may use material already loaded into the Canvas teaching shell to complete the course.

Access to Courses

Only instructors of record automatically gain access to their courses. Additional access to courses may be granted with the instructor’s permission. SDOLP may sometimes access courses to resolve technical issues that students may have. Any changes to courses by SDOLP must be requested by the instructor of record. For evaluation purposes, instructors may request access for the evaluators or add them on their own, as set forth in the Faculty Handbook via Faculty Support Form.

Online Faculty Certification Program (OFCP)

City, Mesa, Miramar, and Continuing Education faculty must complete the OFCP to teach a distance education course assignment. The OFCP webpage provides enrollment information.

Online Student Attendance and Participation

As an online instructor, you may hear things like "clearing your roster" early in the semester and reporting the "last date of attendance" when a student drops.

Clearing your course roster and dropping students who aren't participating will open space for others to be added and start the class without being too far behind. Be wary of inactive students who do not participate in your courses early in the semester, as these student accounts have the potential of being used for financial aid fraud.

Attendance for distance education consists of further substantive actions of the student demonstrating engagement in an academically related activity. Student activity such as only logging onto the online class (Canvas) is not sufficient to meet academic attendance standards. Federal financial aid regulations (see p. 5-65) state that:

In a distance education context, documenting that a student has logged into an online class is not sufficient, by itself, to demonstrate academic attendance by the student. A school must demonstrate that a student participated in class or was otherwise engaged in an academically related activity, such as by contributing to an online discussion or initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a course-related question.

Examples of acceptable evidence of academic attendance and attendance at an academically related activity in a distance education program include:

• student submission of an academic assignment,
• student completion of an assessment or exam,
• student completion of a quiz,
• student participation in an interactive discussion,
• student participation in an interactive tutorial, live streaming meeting, or other interactive computer-assisted instruction,
• student participation in a study group, group project, or online discussion that is assigned by the institution,
• student interaction with the instructor about academic matters, and
• communication from the student or other documentation showing that the student-initiated contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course.

It is recommended that many instructors require participation in an introductory discussion forum or completion of a syllabus quiz within the first few days of class and drop students who do not participate.

Upon withdrawal or drop of a student, the instructor will be responsible to report and determine the last time a student had completed any of the academically related activities listed prior. For more details on the process visit the Faculty Resource Handbook (Section D) and Administrative Procedure 5070 for the definitions of college class attendance at the SDCCD.

Instructors are also required to manage an attendance policy for their online classes. This policy can be flexible to suit the needs of the course and students, but should be clear about what constitutes attendance, regular substantive contact requirements, and equity-mindedness. The Sample Syllabus included in this handbook provides examples of what an attendance policy should entail.

To download a copy of this syllabus from Canvas Commons for your course, visit Canvas Commons and search for the key phrase, “Sample Syllabus_DE Handbook” (Author: Liesl Boswell). For additional guidance, learn how to download content from Canvas Commons.

Academic Integrity

In an online course, students must do more than just login to demonstrate participation. Students should be required to perform activities that demonstrate meaningful participation, such as posting in discussion threads, submitting assignments, and taking quizzes. Here are examples of how to implement student authentication strategies and academic integrity in your online classes:

• Require written work from students weekly (discussions, assignments, and/or essays).
• Ask students to critique each other’s drafts of papers on the discussion forum or via email.
• Use a variety of assessments, for example, quizzes, projects, portfolios, or group work.
• Use a plagiarism detection tool and make the plagiarism reports available to students.

Students are expected to uphold honest academic conduct for all distance education courses and should adhere to the SDCCD AP 3100.3 which defines cheating, plagiarism, and possible academic and administrative sanctions for any breaches of student academic integrity. Please view adaptable Syllabus statements on Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage.

Strategies to Increase Academic Integrity are shown below. Guides to change most of the options can be found by visiting Canvas Quiz Options.

• Availability Window – Restrict the availability of the test to a specific date/time range. 
• Time Limits – Limit the time a student can spend on a test once they start it. 
• Disallow Multiple Attempts – Multiple attempts is a great option for a “mastery” quiz where you want students to retake it until they achieve a certain level of proficiency; this isn’t typical of a summative, high-stakes assessment. 
• Answer Randomization – Answers to multiple-choice questions can be randomized/shuffled so they are presented differently for different students. (Note: In Quizzes this is one setting for the entire quiz; in New Quizzes this is a per-question setting.) 
• Present Questions One at a Time – This can make it more difficult for students to “collaborate” if questions are also randomized. An additional option can prevent students from going back to previous questions, which can further strengthen the integrity of the exam but can also frustrate students who legitimately realize they made a mistake on a previous question and wish to correct it.
• Shuffle Questions – This will present the quiz questions to students in random order. 
• Question Randomization with a Question Group/Item Bank – Drawing questions randomly from a pool (or pools) can make it even more difficult for students to productively share questions during an exam. Keep in mind that if your pool contains more questions than the number of questions you are drawing from the pool to go into the exam, you need to be careful about maintaining consistency of the questions within the pool (both in terms of outcomes measured and difficulty of the questions). 
• Calculated (Formula) Questions – Formula questions can include a range of values for one term/variable. Thus, the same question will have unique answers across different quizzes, but the question can still be auto-graded. 
• Require Presentation of ID– if you are not using a physical proctoring center, but you would like students to demonstrate that the person taking the test is the person enrolled in your class, one suggestion is to have students record a brief video holding a picture ID next to their face. You could add an Essay question that directs students to access their webcam through the Rich Content Editor and record this. Of course, this requires students to have a webcam (and still wouldn’t prevent the student from doing this, then having someone else complete the rest of the exam). 
• Authentic Assessment- Fosters active learning through students doing something to demonstrate knowledge. Check out the authentic assessment guide. Courses that require webcams, disclosed in the class schedule and syllabi, can also use Zoom session with students that allow for the sharing of computer screens with visual confirmation of the student.

Thank you to Jim Julius at MiraCosta on which this guide was adapted.

Tools & Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Instructors help decide what tools will be used within their courses. Instructors should clearly communicate permitted tools and any restrictions. Clearly communicating expected student use of tools and support helps ensure academic integrity. To ensure that your students’ use of tools aligns with your learning goals, consider updating your academic integrity policy to clarify how students are permitted to engage with the tools and how they should signal that it has been used.

Please refer to the Sample Syllabus for additional guidance that includes an allowed, conditional, and not allowed scenario. To download a copy of this syllabus from Canvas Commons for your course, visit Canvas Commons and search for the key phrase, “Sample Syllabus_DE Handbook” (Author: Liesl Boswell). For additional guidance, learn how to download content from Canvas Commons.

Curriculum and Instruction

Fully online or partially online courses undergo the same curriculum review and approval process as do face-to-face courses. For a course to be approved for distance education delivery, the distance education curriculum undergoes a separate review that requires the curriculum originator to input the following distance education-specific information into the Continuing Education Distance Education Addendum or credit colleges’ CurricUNET
 (https://www.curricunet.com/sdccd/)

Techniques used to ensure quality: List the techniques you will use to ensure that the same standards of course quality will be applied to the distance education course as to the face-to-face course.

Evaluation Method: Describe how you will evaluate whether the students taking this course have achieved the learning outcomes as specified in the course objectives.

Additional Resources: Specify the additional resources, materials, and/or information that may be necessary for you to provide to a diverse student population, including students with disabilities, to ensure the standards of course quality and student success are achieved.

• Board Policy 3306 for Course Materials Adoption and Procurement:
• Guidelines for Required Instructional Materials in the California Community Colleges
• WebAim

ADA Statement:

Distance education techniques used in this course will be accessible to individuals with disabilities (Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act). Requests for technology accommodations will be met by working with the Adaptive Technology Specialist to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Contact Type:

Define the types of contact between the instructor and students, and among students and the frequency of each contact type.

Once approved by the Colleges, the distance education courses are then subject to review and approval by the Districtwide Curriculum and Instructional Council (CIC), SDCCD Board of Trustees, and State Chancellor’s Office. A list of approved online distance education courses is updated regularly and posted to the Instructional Services website

Instructors are assigned by their college departments to teach distance education courses in either a fully online or partially online delivery mode.

Accessibility of Distance Learning Courses
and Students with Disabilities

In planning or revising a distance learning course, it is important to employ principles of Universal Design to ensure that your course is usable and accessible to all students SDCCD AP 5105. Understanding potential barriers that a course may pose to students with disabilities will help you ensure the accessibility of your course as you design or revise it.

Ensuring accessibility expands the market for distance learning courses supports the open enrollment policies of the California Community College system, and is required by policy and law. The Accessibility of Distance Learning Courses for Students with Disabilities document covers legal requirements, CCC Chancellor’s Guidelines, and common accessibility examples.

For information on services and tools made available through the California Community College Chancellor’s Office CVC-OEI grant, please visit CVC.edu. For other web and information technology accessibility needs, please visit the CCC Accessibility Center.

The guidelines are comprehensive and include strategies for addressing access concerns with all distance learning formats, including online education. In addition, see Board Policy 3108 on Accessibility Standards for Electronic and Information Technology — Section 508.

Student Code of Conduct

Guidelines for the Student Code of Conduct for online classes have been developed in accordance with Board Policy 5500 and the Student Code of Conduct for Online Courses

Students are expected to adhere to the Student Code of Conduct at all times. Students who violate the Student Code of Conduct may be removed from class by the faculty for the class meeting in which the behavior occurred, and the next class meeting. Access for students to online class may be removed for one week (5 instructional days) for violation of the code of conduct.

Camera Recommendations

Please review Camera Recommendations for case scenarios and approaches to ensure compliance with FERPA when recording live class session, best practices in creating instructional videos and audio recordings, recording class sessions, and requesting students to use a camera during live sessions. The appendix includes templates you may wish to use.

Instructors may record live class sessions to allow students to review missed classes, comply with DSP&S accommodations, or share content with future classes. Depending on who is identifiable in the recording, the recordings may constitute educational records that are protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Additional information about photos, video, and audio recording under FERPA can be found in the US Department of Education FAQs on Photos and Videos under FERPA. California Chancellor’s Office Legal Opinion 2012-12 was sent out on October 19th to clarify the requirement of camera use.

This document refers to live class sessions as a broad term recognizing both methods asynchronous (no set required meeting times) or synchronous (required/regular set meeting times) using multiple online conferencing platforms such as ConferZoom, Pronto, and Microsoft Teams.

Contact your campus DSP&S Department for any specific student accommodation requests or support.

Netiquette

Netiquette is the combination of the words Internet and etiquette that refers to the customary code of polite behavior in online settings such as discussion boards, emails, chat messages, and synchronous class meetings.

The Netiquette guidelines demonstrate proper online behavior are to help ensure success in your courses at the San Diego Community College District. Just as in a campus-based classroom, there is appropriate conduct for an online classroom. For example, netiquette dictates that using all capital letters in an email is like shouting.

Copyright

SDCCD Copyright Guidelines provides support for the use of copyrighted materials were developed by a District-wide Copyright Guidelines Committee. For faculty, the bargaining agreement states that, “The copyrights to works created by faculty members will be owned by them, even if those works (e.g., class notes recorded by students, syllabi, lectures, student exercises, multimedia programs, and tests) are created in connection with courses they teach, or other duties they perform as faculty members, while they are employed by the District and in connection with their employment, unless the work is created under the circumstances described in paragraph 26.4.2.1”.

Effective Practices: Title 5 Regulations Distance Education Guidelines Summary

California DE classes must abide by Title 5 regulation and must be designed to alleviate “Student access issues related to geographical, cultural, disability, and facility barriers.” SDCCD is committed to adhering to the Distance Education Guidelines as set forth by the Chancellor’s Office and to SDCCD Board Policies and Procedures. The following is a summary of the Title 5 Regulations and local Board Policies and Procedures.

Section 55200 - Definition and Application

The definition and application for Distance Education to this section is “instruction in which the instructor and student are separated by distance and interact through the assistance of communication technology.” That might include video conference software in classes that aren’t formally coded as online classes at the SDCCD. This section explicitly endorses education initiatives that colleges might develop using these technologies, and also mentions the need for faculty to receive appropriate training in using them. Most of this section is devoted to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) requirements and advises in methods to ensure that students with disabilities receive maximum opportunities to access distance education classes: “anytime, anywhere” learning, closed and open captioning, etc. (CCC Accessibility Guidelines and Practices). It also reminds us that “each DE course and its associated materials and resources be reviewed and revised, as necessary, when the course undergoes curriculum review…every six years.”

Section 55202 - Course Quality Standards

This section clarifies that “normal course quality standards apply to any portion of a course conducted through distance education.” It emphasizes the need for the involvement of faculty in the design, application and quality review of these courses. CCC Program and Course Approval Handbook.

Section 55204 - Regular Substantive Interaction

“Regular substantive contact between instructor and students, and among students” is required in all classes, and this section lists numerous ways to achieve that in DE classes: group or individual meetings, review and study sessions, voice mail, e-mail, etc. Documentation of these methods is required. This guideline “stresses the responsibility of the instructor in a DE course to initiate regular substantive contact with enrolled students to verify their participation and performance status.” Additional examples and video workshops can be found at the RSI webpage.

For purposes of this definition, substantive interaction is engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment, consistent with the content under discussion, and also includes at least two of the following:

• Providing direct instruction;
• Assessing or providing feedback on a student's coursework;
• Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or competency;
• Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency; or
• Other instructional activities approved by the institution's or program's accrediting agency.

An institution ensures regular interaction between a student and an instructor or instructors by, prior to the student's completion of a course or competency:

• Providing the opportunity for substantive interactions with the student on a predictable and scheduled basis commensurate with the length of time and the amount of content in the course or competency; and
• Monitoring the student's academic engagement and success and ensuring that an instructor is responsible for promptly and proactively engaging in substantive interaction with the student when needed on the basis of such monitoring, or upon request by the student.

Students who are not participating in courses must be dropped, unless there are extenuating circumstances. Since there are few or no meetings for some DE courses, the basis for an instructor to determine whether a student is actively enrolled as of the census date should be based on this “regular and substantive” contact requirement. Census rosters must be cleared of inactive enrollment as of the census date, which includes:

• No shows
• Students who have officially withdrawn
• Students who have been dropped from the course

Local policies and instructor directives/guidance must be developed for appropriate clearing of course rosters, including for distance education courses.

Section 55206 - Curriculum: Separate Course Approval

Separate course approval is required if “any portion of the instruction of a course is designed to be regularly provided through distance education.” This section clarifies the so-called “51% rule,” namely, that only those courses with 51% or more DE are reported as DE, but that ANY class with contact hours offered through DE must undergo a separate approval process. For SDCCD, this would include partially online and hybrid courses.

Section 55208 - Faculty Selection and Workload

DE instructors should be selected by the same procedures used to determine all instructional assignments. The number of students assigned to any one DE section should be consistent with other district procedures.

Section 55210 - Ongoing Responsibility of Districts

All classes reported as DE classes need to maintain records and report data on the number of students and faculty participating in them through the Chancellor’s Office Management Information System (MIS) by August 31 of each year.

Section 58003.1 - Fiscal Support

The calculation for DE Full Time Equivalent Students (FTES) for credit DE courses can be calculated in one of four ways:

1. Weekly Student Contact (Weekly Census--DE courses that are regularly scheduled)
2. Daily Student Contact Hours (Daily Census)
3. Actual Hours of Attendance (Positive Attendance)
4. Alternative Attendance (Alternative)

For more information on attendance accounting, please refer to the CCC Attendance Accounting Manual and the full California Community Colleges Distance Education Guidelines, 2008 Omnibus Version.

Syllabus

Each course syllabus should reflect a humanized, equitable, student-centered approach to teaching:

Humanizing leverages learning science and culturally responsive teaching to create an inclusive, equitable online class climate for today's diverse students. When you teach online, it is easy to relate to your students simply as names on a screen. But your students are much more than that. They are capable, resilient humans who bring an array of perspectives and knowledge to your class. They also bring life experiences shaped by racism, poverty, and social marginalization. In humanized online courses, positive instructor-student relationships are prioritized and serve "as the connective tissue between students, engagement, and rigor" (Pacansky-Brock et al., 2020, p. 2). In any learning modality, human connection is the antidote for the emotional disruption that prevents many students from performing to their full potential and in online courses, creating that connection is even more important (Jaggars & Xu, 2016).

Pacansky-Brock, M. (2020). How and Why to Humanize Your Online Class. Brocansky.com. 

Liquid Syllabus

One of many ways to begin implementing a humanized pedagogy is to start with a liquid syllabus in your course and curriculum.  A liquid syllabus is a web based, pre-semester syllabus, emailed to your students a week before instruction begins.  It is delivered via a modern, mobile first website and contains the following:

• A brief, imperfect welcome video.
• A learning pact detailing what your students can expect from you and what you'll expect of them.
• A teaching philosophy that conveys diversity as a value.
• Tips for success.
• Week one due dates and required materials.
• A link to log into your course.

Pacansky-Brock, M. (2020). How and Why to Humanize Your Online Class. Brocansky.com. 

Sample Course Syllabus

The Sample Course Syllabus contains unique items for online learning, including Assessment Methods, AI, Netiquette Guidelines, Camera Guidelines, Grading, Course Policies, Accessibility of Course Material, Technical Requirements, and Canvas Orientation Material. Inclusion of these items may help to alleviate student frustration and confusion when taking their online courses.

To download a copy of this syllabus from Canvas Commons for your course, visit Canvas Commons and search for the key phrase, “Sample Syllabus_DE Handbook” (Author: Liesl Boswell). For additional guidance, learn how to download content from Canvas Commons.

The California Virtual Campus (CVC)

CVC is an initiative of the CCC Chancellor's Office, funded by the California legislature in 2013 in support of Governor Jerry Brown's Online Education Initiative proposal. The CVC is one of three major initiatives—including the Education Planning Initiative and the Common Assessment Initiative—that are expected to integrate, improve, and evolve existing technology services on behalf of California's community college students.

The mission of the California Virtual Campus (previously the Online Education Initiative - California Virtual Campus (OEI/CVC) is to dramatically increase the number of California Community Colleges (CCC) students who obtain college associate degrees and transfer to four-year colleges each year by providing online courses and services within a statewide CCC Online Education Ecosystem (OEE).

Special attention will be given to ensuring retention and success through basic skills support and other support services, especially for underserved and underrepresented cohort groups.

As part of the initiative, staff development opportunities will be made available, including a peer online course review, based on the Course Design Rubric for the Online Education Initiative (below). The OEI Professional Development task force developed the rubric to outline “good practice” in online course design.

Course Design Rubric

Online Course Review Information

The OEI Course Design Rubric was developed in 2014 and most currently revised in 2020 by the OEI Professional Development work group to ensure that all courses offered as part of the initiative promote student success and meet existing regulatory and accreditation requirements. It underwent revisions and updates in response to changes in available instructional technology and feedback from instructors and reviewers.

Courses that are peer reviewed and aligned to the OEI Course Design Rubric have met the CCC’s highest level of design standards to support online student success and can be made available for cross enrollment to students at participating colleges.

The Rubric is divided into four sections (A-D):

Section A: Content Presentation

The 14 elements for quality course design in this section address how content is organized and accessed in the course management system. Key elements include course navigation, learning objectives, and access to student support information.

Section B: Interaction

The six elements in this section address instructor-initiated and student-initiated communication. Key elements of quality course design covered in this section include regular substantive contact, both between and among instructors and students

.

Section C: Assessment

The eight elements in this section address the variety and effectiveness of assessments within the course. Key elements include the alignment of objectives and assessments, the clarity of instructions for completing activities, and evidence of timely and regular feedback.

Following a review by a team of trained faculty peer reviewers, each element in Sections A-C will be marked in one of three ways:

• Incomplete: The element is missing or present to a degree that does not adequately support student success in online learning.
• Aligned: The element is present and effectively designed to support student success in online learning.
• Additional Exemplary Elements: This designation recognizes design choices that are aligned and go even further to enhance the student experience in the online learning environment.

SECTION D: Accessibility

The 16 elements in this section are reviewed to determine if a student using assistive technologies will be able to access the instructor’s course content as required by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (also known as “508 Compliance”). The accessibility elements in Section D focus on instructor-generated content that is primarily under the control of faculty when developing a course. Since Section D addresses elements that are required to be present, the elements in this section, when applicable, are only marked as Incomplete or Aligned.

Reference the Accessibility of Distance Learning Courses for Students with Disabilities document for more information. Visit CVC.edu for more information on the OEI, the Rubric, and the Course Review Process. We welcome your feedback and suggestions.

The Peralta Equity Rubric is a research-based course (re)design evaluation instrument to help instructors make online course experiences more equitable for all students.

The Equity Rubric is designed to be used in conjunction with the OEI Course Design Rubric.  The Peralta Equity Rubric’s criteria are as follows.

E1: Technology

Assessing students’ access to technology in the course.

E2: Student Resources and Support

Assessing students’ access to different types of support (both academic and non-academic) in the course.

E3: Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Assessing how well the course follows universal design for learning principles.

E4: Diversity and Inclusion

Assessing the course and instructor’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

E5: Images and representation

Assessing image and representation bias in the course.

E6: Human Bias

Assessing implicit bias and interaction bias in the course.

E7: Content Meaning

Assessing content and its meaning in the course.

E8: Connection and Belonging

Assessing how well the course helps students make connections (e.g., between course topics and their lives; with the other students).

Faculty Training and Support

One on One Training

SDOLP offers training on a one-on-one basis. If you would like to request a one-hour session, please reach out to bweston@sdccd.edu.

Online Faculty Webinars

SDCCD's Online Learning Pathways will be hosting online webinars to help faculty learn Zoom, Canvas, and more for online learning.  Visit our Faculty Training page to learn more about upcoming webinars.

Online Faculty Certification Program

The SDCCD Online Learning Pathways Online Faculty Training course is self-paced and fully online with the faculty member enrolled simultaneously in two training course sites: one as a student along with a cohort of other faculty trainees and one as an instructor to demonstrate proficiency in the training objectives. Trainees progress through the self-paced modules with guidance and feedback provided by SDCCD Online Learning Pathways staff.

For SDCCD faculty, this is an opportunity to learn new tools and features for online instruction, and also to be updated on the latest Distance Education State and Federal regulations. There are 7 modules and the estimated time to complete this course is 20 hours. However, your time commitment will vary based upon your own level of experience with web technologies.

Check out the Course Outline to learn more about this program. www.sdccd.edu/OFCP

Appendix A. Faculty Agreement

Faculty Agreements can be found on the HR website, which include intellectual property rights, evaluations, professional development, and more.

To access a copy of BP 5500, go to the Board Policy webpage and click on “Student Services.”

To find a copy of the SDCCD Student Code of Conduct Guidelines for Online Classes please visit the “Student Code of Conduct Guidelines for Online Classes,”  

Appendix B. Copyright

SDCCD Guidelines for Use of Copyrighted Material are to help faculty, staff and students comply with U S Copyright law and to make informed decisions about copyright.

Additional information including policy and F.A.Q. can be found on the SDCCD Copyright website.

Appendix C. Competencies Checklist

Checklist of Competencies for Designing and Teaching Using Canvas

Create and Manage Course Content

Overview

Course content is the core of the online course and affects student learning outcomes, student retention and student success. A well-trained instructor spends less time with the technical aspects of the course and more time teaching and interacting with students.

Communicate with Students

Overview

An effective online instructor will use the Canvas communication tools to facilitate student-to-teacher and student-to-student interactions. Regular, substantive, instructor-initiated contact and contact among students are accreditation requirements and required by Title 5. The built-in communication tools facilitate discussion of course concepts, increase understanding of content, and allow for community building within a course.

Assess Student Learning

Overview

Canvas offers many tools that allow you to evaluate student learning and provide feedback to students. Competent use of these tools will enhance the learning environment as you measure learning and evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional setting.

Manage, Evaluate, And Improve the Course

Overview

Keeping the course organized and managing the flow of instruction, grading, communication and scheduling are important areas of proficiency. Canvas tools provide data that you can use to assess the effectiveness of specific content pages and examine the overall effectiveness of the course. Once you have analyzed the data, use it to improve your course design and content.

Appendix D. Assuring That Your Online Course is Ready for Prime Time

Use an Online Course Readiness Checklist to help guide development of your course. Once your course is developed, the checklist may serve as a reminder to complete any pending items.

The major components of the Course Readiness Checklist are in these categories:

• Instructional Design – the organization and architecture of the course
• Navigation – how students access the course content and tools
• Pedagogical Effectiveness – the instructional techniques
• Accessibility and Usability – course meets ADA compliance and universal access standards (See Appendix H).
• Copyright Compliance – adherence to the institutional copyright compliance policy
• Technology - use of technology tools and multimedia elements, hyperlinks
• Schedule – updated time-sensitive items, schedules, calendars, announcements

For each item within these categories, you can check off a simple Yes or No to indicate your course readiness status. A space for your reminders or comments is provided at the end of each section. Comments are particularly useful for explaining any “No course readiness” items. You may use this Checklist as a self-assessment or you may want to have the assistance of the instructional designer or a peer-reviewer to go through the items. Remove or add items to your Online Course Readiness Checklist to fit the needs of your online course development and delivery process. The following items are suggestions for a comprehensive review of your online course readiness.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Appendix E. Recommended Components of a Learning Module

The online course content is presented in learning modules with each module taught on a time-scheduled basis, such as one module per week. Depending upon the learning objectives, all the modules may be available throughout the course or the modules may be time-released week by week. If the courseware tools permit release of new material based on the results of the end-of-module assessment, this type of customization creates a learning path that meets the needs of individual learners.

Each module can consist of 7 components:

1. Pre-Assessment

Prior to beginning the module, students are assessed to determine their entry-level knowledge of the topic. Assessments may take a variety of forms including: objective questions (scored automatically by the courseware), short answer or essay questions. Results of the module assessment will be compared with the Pre-Assessment to measure students' learning outcomes.

2. Learning Objectives

Include a lead-in statement such as, “Upon successful completion of this module, students will be able to...” Module objectives must include the actions, performance criteria, and conditions of what the student will be able to do. List verbs which demonstrate outcomes. Place the verb at the beginning of the objective. Some examples are: define, repeat, list, record, recall, relate, underline, translate, discuss, describe, identify, locate, report, interpret, dramatize, illustrate, schedule, sketch, apply, operate, evaluate, solve, calculate, etc. Stress critical thinking activities. Explain briefly “how” the knowledge will be shown: ex., “define, in writing, the influence of the Bauhaus movement on the design of contemporary buildings.” The objectives must relate in concept and language to both the Course Description and the concepts listed in the Outline of Topics on the syllabus. Be concise and complete: ten is probably too many; one is not enough.

3. Assigned Reading

Reading assignments are required. Specify chapters, pages, documents, slides. Provide guided reading suggestions or points to look out for in the reading.

4. Assigned Writing

Writing assignments are required. Specifically identify the type of writing, outlining, etc. Explain the process for submitting the writing assignment and the evaluation criteria. Some suggested techniques are:

Posting to the discussion board

Transmitting a Word document (to instructor or shared with class)

5. Exercise/Activities

Provide an interactive exercise for the entire class or for groups. Suggested interactive exercises:

Discussion Forum with specific guidelines for quality/quantity of postings

Creation of individual or group PowerPoint presentation via discussion board for student review and comment.

Student submission of web resources on the module topic.

Post a self-assessment quiz using the online assessment tools

6. For Further Study

Provide links to web resources to engage students in further study.

7. Assessment

The purpose of the assessment is to measure the achievement of the Learning Objectives for this module. Suggested formats for the assessment:

Short essay questions.

Quiz items submitted via the Assessment Manager.

The format of the assessment should match the format of the pre-assessment so that progress can be measured.

Specify the instructor feedback concerning the assessment (how will feedback be provided, and when?) Specify what the remediation process would be for students who miss meeting the learning objectives.

Appendix F. Instructure Course Evaluation Checklist

The Instructure Course Evaluation Checklist is a collaborative creation from members of the Education Services department at Instructure. By combining our expertise in Canvas, sharing our knowledge of Universal Design for Learning principles, and applying our deep understanding of pedagogical best practices, we’ve created a tool that will elevate the quality of Canvas courses.

How To Use The legend within each header references what type of criterion is demonstrated. A ★ rating indicates an Essential and standard design component to online learning; a ★★ rating is considered Best Practice and adds value to a course; and ★★★ is Exemplary and elevates learning.

We know each institution has unique requirements for their courses and we hope this document will serve as a great resource or starting point. We’d love to hear how you’re using this checklist. Please leave comments in the Canvas Community - Course Evaluation Checklist  blog post.

Please Note: Visit the Mobile App Design Course Evaluation Checklist  blog post to access an additional resource!

The Content Services department is always ready to help your organization create a cycle of success with Canvas through Training, Instructional Design, and Adoption Consulting! Our Instructional Design team offers full Course Evaluations. Course evaluation services provide insight into best practices. Recommendations will focus on aligning course objectives, accessibility, and overall creation of an enhanced user experience. If you would like to learn more about our services, please contact your CSM or Shauna Vorkink

at svorkink@instructure.com.

Appendix G. Mobile Evaluation Checklist:

Please Note: This resource is designed to act as an addendum to the Canvas Community - Course Evaluation Checklist.

How To Use The legend in each header references what type of criterion is demonstrated.

A ★ rating indicates an Essential and standard design component to online learning; a ★★ rating is considered Best Practice and adds value to a course; and★★★ is Exemplary and elevates learning.

We know each institution has unique requirements for their courses and we hope this document will serve as a great resource or starting point. We’d love to hear how you’re using this checklist. Please leave comments in the Canvas Community - Mobile App Design Course Evaluation Checklist blog post.

It’s always best practice to review your course(s) in the app. Search “Instructure” to find free teacher and student apps available for iOS and Android.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Mobile Design Resources

• Canvas Live Presentation: Canvas Mobile Design, Ryan Seilhamer, UCF
• Canvas Blog: Are Courses Really Mobile First? Ryan Seilhamer, UCF
• Design a Mobile Ready Course with Universal Design, Kate Miller, CU Online
• Canvas Teacher Mobile Features and Mobile Guides - Canvas Teacher
• Canvas Student Mobile Features and Mobile Guides - Canvas Student

Appendix H. Accessibility of Distance Learning Courses for Students with Disabilities

Ensuring accessibility allows students with different capabilities to experience education in the California Community College system. In addition, there are policy and legal mandates regarding access. The following document covers the legal requirements, CCC Chancellor’s Guidelines, and examples of access issues with possible solution. Accessibility of Distance Learning Courses for Students with Disabilities.