Blackboard 201

Communication Workshop

Barbara Cooper. OCC Faculty Online Coordinator

Distance Education Guidelines

pg. 10

409. Distance Education and Education Technology.(a) The Chancellor shall convene a distance education and education technology

advisorycommittee to advise the Chancellor’s Office on the vision, policy, and planning in

support ofdistance education and education technology. The advisory committee will take

issues to andwork in collaboration with the Technology and Telecommunications Advisory

Committee andSystem Advisory Committee on Curriculum in formulating recommendations to the

Chancellor.The advisory group has as its primary goal improvement in student access and

success throughutilization of instructional technology in the classroom and through hybrid courses

and distanceeducation programs provided by the California Community Colleges. The distance

educationand education technology advisory committee will identify best practices in

the development andevaluation of distance education and other instructional offerings utilizing

instructionaltechnology, and recommend guidelines and regulatory changes.

PROCEDURES AND STANDING ORDERS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS September 2013 ————— Board of Governors California

Community Colleges Sacramento, California

Regular and effective contactAny portion of a course conducted through distance education includes regular effective contact between instructor and students, through group or individual meetings, orientation and review sessions, supplemental seminar or study sessions, field trips, library workshops, telephone contact, correspondence, voice mail, e-mail, or other activities. Regular effective contact is an academic and professional matter pursuant to sections (55204 Chancellor’s Office, California Community Colleges)All DE courses at OCC, whether hybrid or fully online, will include regular effective contact as described below:Policy establishing expectations of frequency and timeliness of instructor-initiated contact and instructor feedback will be posted in the syllabus and/or other course documents that are made available for students when the course officially opens each semester. Initiated interaction: Instructors will regularly initiate interaction with students to determine that they are accessing and comprehending course material and that they are participating regularly in the course.Frequency: DE Courses are considered the “virtual equivalent” to face to face courses. Therefore, the frequency of the contact will be at least the same as would be established in a regular, face to face course. .

OCC Distance Education Guidelines

Type of Contact: Regarding the type of contact that will exist in all OCC DE courses, instructors will, at a minimum, use the following resources to initiate contact with students: Threaded discussion forums with student to student and instructor to student interactions.Weekly announcements in the Course Management System.Timely feedback, the syllabus and course information should clearly indicate reasonable instructor response time for key events and interactions. This includes instructor availability, including e-mail response time, degree of participation in discussions, and availability via other media (phone, in-person if applicable. (Example: If an instructor adopts a policy, that information should be clearly stated in the course.)Other forms of communication can include: group or individual meetings, orientation and review sessions, supplemental seminar or study sessions, field trips, library workshops, telephone contact, correspondence, voice mail, e-mail, or other activities and/or CCC Confer, video conference, pod cast, or other synchronous technologies may also be included.

OCC Distance Education Guidelines

Why is this important• In the ACCJC report, OCC was given a

warning regarding REGULAR AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION in online courses

• While there was some classes showed evidence of effective communication, there was no evidence of consistency

• GOAL: Provide training how to use BBL tools to meet guidelines and enhance communication with students

REGULAR effective

communication

Regular is comparable to the frequency of F2F classes

Acceptable Methods of Effective Communication

• Announcements• Bulletin Boards• Chat rooms• Discussion Boards

o Wikiso Blogso Journals

• Email• Messaging• FAQs• Scheduled F2F meetings• Telephone• Voice Mail• Correspondence

• Video conferences• Assessments/Assignments

o Onsiteo Online

• Orientationso Onsiteo Online

• Field trips• Study sessions• Rubric• Syllabus• Library orientations• Surveys

Communication Tools in BBL

• Announcements• Discussion Board• Syllabus

o Contractso Performance evalulations

• Inline gradingo Assessmentso Assignmentso Discussions

• Rubrics• Email• Messages• Retention Center

Adding Course Tools in BBL

Blackboard ToolsTracked Non - tracked• Messages• Inline grading

o Assessmentso Assignmentso Discussions

• Syllabus• Retention Center• Discussions• Rubric grades• Announcement

• Emailo Regularo Gradebooko Announcement/Emails

• Publisher chats• Video conferences• F2F meetings

Announcements• Welcome message• Regular messages• Can also be sent as

email• Announcements archive

in BBL

Mail (Email)• Welcome message• Can email through

Gradebook• Not tracked in BBL• Will go to students

Gmail address o Student does not need to go

into class

Documents• Syllabus

o Establish policieso Technical training

• Browser check• Help Desk• Blackboard tutorials

o Contact informationo Include office hourso Responsibilities

• Instructor• Student

• Contracto Communication- frequency, response timeso Syllabus Quiz

• FAQs• Early contact - Class Welcome

o 1st contacto Making class availableo Class schedule detailso Blackboard Tutorials

Course Tools - Rubrics

• Provides guidelines for studentso Instructor expectationso Points associated

• Provides consistent grading for instructoro Make sure that rubric is visible to the student for it to be

effective

Inline Grading & Instructor comments

Inline Grading Tools• Editing tools • Archived in BBL

Instructor Feedback

Instructor comments

Retention Center

Maintaining Communication not Tracked by BBL

• Outlook folder• Maintain dates in

o Syllabuso Announcementso Contracto Messageso Calendar

Open Discussion• What other tools are you using?

• What other tools do you need additional training?

• Comments