3.0 Title V & Effective Practices

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.

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 Links to an external site.). 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.”

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 Links to an external site..

“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 Links to an external site..

Learn more about Regular and Substantive Interaction by viewing our recorded workshop fro Common Mistakes in Online Interaction and How RSI Can Solve Them.

• Video Length
• 1 Hour

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.