Central Florida Community College
E-LEARNING PLAN
2007-2008
Table of Contents
I. Overview 3
A. Introduction
B. Mission Statement
C. Definition of E-Learning
D. E-Learning Goals
E. Target Population
II. Support Services 4
A. Student Services for E-Learning Students
B. Learning Resources Services for E-Learning Students
III. Procedures 5
A. Training for Faculty
B. Training for Students
C. Development Procedures for Online Classes
D. Criteria for Online Courses
E. Development Procedures for Interactive Television (ITV) and
Telecourses
F. Class Size and Course Loads
G. Virtual Office Hours
H. Evaluations
Appendix A: Hybrid Courses
Appendix B: Enrollment Caps for Online Classes
Appendix C: Procedures for Duplication of Online Course Shells
I. Overview
A. Introduction
This plan constitutes a working document which serves as a guide
to e-learning at Central Florida Community College. It is offered
as a dynamic document, which is evaluated and reviewed annually
for necessary revisions. In this year’s plan, the previously
used term “distance learning” has been replaced with
“e-learning” to more accurately represent current
delivery of instruction via the Internet.
E-learning responsibility includes e-learning coordination under
the Dean of Learning Resources who reports to the Vice President
for Instruction, in conjunction with an appointed E-Learning Committee
that serves as the advisory body for e-learning. Membership on
the E-Learning Committee consists primarily of faculty who teach
in e-learning and staff who support e-learning credit and non-credit
courses. E-learning operates in a symbiotic relationship with
the Teaching/Learning Center, sharing faculty training responsibilities.
B. Mission Statement
E-learning strives to provide flexible, accessible, quality courses
to students who desire an alternative delivery method for learning.
C. Definition of E-Learning
E-learning at Central Florida Community College involves any formal
approach to learning in which the majority of instruction occurs
while the instructors and learners interact synchronously or asynchronously
at a distance, employing technology to facilitate the educational
experience with the learners.
E-learning responds to the needs and goals of students for flexible,
accessible programs and courses, and takes place in the form of
online courses via the Internet, hybrid courses, telecourses,
and interactive television classes through video conferencing
equipment in the classrooms. E-learning is an alternative delivery
for instruction, not a separate program. Academic, learning resources,
student services, technical, and administrative support are provided
for all forms of e-learning courses.
As stated in the definition, e-learning occurs in 4 forms: online
courses, hybrid course, telecourses, and interactive television
courses. These are defined as follows:
Online Courses:
Online courses and programs are distributed through the Internet,
allowing for flexibility in time and/or place.
Hybrid Courses:
Hybrid courses are combinations of online and traditional face-to-face
classroom instruction. A designated percentage of the class is
delivered on campus and the remaining percentage is delivered
in the online environment. The predetermined percentages will
vary according to the needs of the particular class and/or the
particular instructor. The E-Learning Committee has developed
procedures for the development of the courses that use blended
forms of instructional delivery. See Appendix A.
Telecourses:
Telecourses take advantage of public educational broadcast channels
and videotape formats for distribution.
ITV courses:
Interactive television courses allow for distribution of live
lectures through video conferencing equipment. This equipment
allows course instruction to occur through two-way audio and video
interaction at connected sites within the college’s service
area. The instructor provides live instruction in the origination
classroom and appears via video and audio links to the remote
instruction sites.
D. E-Learning Goals (Established in the initial Distance Learning
Plan of 1999)
• Provide flexible education
• Provide alternative access for students with disabilities
• Support and assist students with e-learning
• Promote awareness of e-learning to students, faculty,
and the community
• Provide quality curriculum and course materials
• Provide reliable, accessible technology to support e-learning
• Facilitate appropriate support services to students
• Establish prerequisite skills for online courses
• Evaluate success and satisfaction of these courses
• Ensure adequate resources to implement e-learning
• Ensure adherence to accreditation, state licensing regulations,
etc.
• Collaborate with other institutions, initiatives, and
consortia involved with e-learning
• Establish an Associate in Arts degree through e-learning
(accomplished in Fall 2002)
• Promote the development of instruction, support, and administrative
procedures relating to online courses to a fully Internet-based
delivery
E. Target Population
The target population for CFCC’s e-learning courses is
primarily students within the college’s tri-county service
area. While most of the e-learning students are not necessarily
geographically distant, they tend to be temporally distant, as
work, family, and other obligations do not allow these students
to maintain a regular schedule of classes. While the majority
of the e-learning students are local students, the program occasionally
includes students who are geographically distant. Faculty members
teaching online courses agree to accommodate geographically distant
students who may enroll in their classes.
II. Support Services
A. Student Services for E-Learning Students
Student services for e-learning students are provided by a variety
of methods. Historically, students enrolled in an ITV class have
been on–campus, either the Ocala campus, Citrus County campus,
or the Levy County center. These students have the opportunity
to partake of any and all student services that are available
on these campuses.
For students who participate in e-learning through telecourse
or online courses, the primary modality for access to the Student
Services area is through the college’s web site. For those
telecourse students without access to the Internet, these services
would be available to these students at the CFCC campus or center
most easily accessible to them.
The college web site contains all the pertinent information
necessary for anyone to become a student at CFCC. It contains
the current college catalog, the current schedule of class offerings,
a downloadable application with instructions for completing the
application process, and an online orientation session. CFCC converted
to a web based registration system in 2003.
The Online Orientation program is accessible through the college’s
online course schedule. Within the orientation program is a link
for contacting a college counselor via e-mail. All Student Services
components are listed, linked and explained within the Online
Orientation.
B. Learning Resources Services for E-Learning Students
The Florida Distance Learning Library Initiative (DLLI) is the
library service component of distance education in public higher
education in Florida. The initiative’s goal is cost-effective,
expanded access to library services while reducing duplication
of resources. This initiative insures library services are available
virtually anywhere to students, faculty, and staff. It is a cooperative
effort of Florida’s public universities, community colleges,
and the State Library of Florida.
Through the Library Information Network for Community Colleges,
LINCC Web, CFCC students can search the holdings of all community
colleges, a resource of more than 3 million items. Information
resources available to e-learning students include access to over
75 comprehensive databases. Materials not available from local
resources can be obtained through the Interlibrary Loan system
that is a service available to all registered students, faculty,
and staff of Central Florida Community College.
III. Procedures
A. Training for Faculty
Faculty involved in developing e-learning courses, as well as
on-going instruction, are provided with support in technology
training, in specific methodology appropriate for the medium of
delivery, and with systems delivery support. To this end, the
Teaching/Learning Center (TLC), in cooperation with the E-Learning
and Computer Services departments, provides continuous assistance
for web-based and other forms of e-learning instruction.
B. Training for Students
Students new to online e-learning are provided counseling and
assistance to help determine if online learning is suitable for
them. Additionally, these students are provided ongoing technical
assistance through workshops and the help desk for e-learning.
An interactive assessment for determining if a student possesses
the attributes suitable for online learning is available on the
CFCC Distance Learning webpage.
C. Development Procedures for Online Classes
The needs for online course development will be guided by college-wide
goals with assistance from the Vice President for Instruction
in conjunction with the Dean of Learning Resources, the E-Learning
Committee, and input from the faculty. Any faculty member wishing
to develop a course for online delivery will make application
to the E-Learning Committee. Applications need to be approved
by the appropriate subject area personnel, the E-Learning Committee,
and the Vice President for Instruction. The Committee, with approval
from the Vice President for Instruction, will determine the schedule
for development based on curriculum, budget, and need.
Faculty developing courses for online delivery will receive
reassigned time or standard supplemental pay, as funds permit,
equivalent to the credit hours for the course being developed.
Faculty new to online course development will be asked to participate
in appropriate training the semester prior to course implementation.
Faculty will agree to work with the E-Learning Technician or experienced
faculty member through the first semester of online course implementation,
evaluate online courses using the online course evaluation methods,
participate in ongoing training as needed, and update courses
as necessary without additional compensation unless substantial
revision is necessary. Substantial revision requiring additional
compensation must be approved by the subject area administration,
E-Learning Committee and the Vice President of Instruction.
Faculty agreeing to develop courses for online delivery will
receive a letter of agreement outlining the terms of the procedure.
This procedure will address course ownership and intellectual
property rights. Since the online course will be developed through
reassigned time or compensation, the college will retain ownership
rights. Specifics of intellectual property rights, course ownership,
and royalties are subject to Board Rule 3.10. Faculty developing
courses for online delivery will adhere to all copyright guidelines.
D. Criteria for Online Courses
For a course to be considered an e-learning course, 75% or more
of the course must be administered online. An online course may
require some on-campus or proctored hours for testing, laboratories,
writing assignments, review lessons, etc. depending upon the nature
of the course and the requirements of the instructor. These non-online
activities should not constitute more than 25% of the course.
Additionally, non-online activities for students who are significantly
remote from a CFCC campus need to be minimized and alternative
plans developed to appropriately address these geographically
distant students.
The minimum criteria for existing online courses and for new
online course development and delivery include:
• Faculty participation in the development-training program
upon approval of the application for online course delivery.
• At least 75% of the course delivered online; provisions
must be made for geographically remote students for non-distance
activities.
• Inclusion of the course and course content in the college’s
chosen template, WebCT, unless otherwise approved by the E-Learning
Committee.
• Expected on-campus or proctored class meetings dates listed
and advertised to students prior to course enrollment, probably
through the course schedule.
• Inclusion of the electronic library link on the course’s
class web page.
• Inclusion of a link on the course’s class page to
the online course evaluation instrument with instructor emphasis
on completing this instrument each term.
• Minimum hardware and software requirements listed in the
course syllabus and information page of the course available to
non-enrolled students.
• Creation of a course syllabus or appropriate information
to appear on the college’s web site, accessible for student
viewing without a password.
• Adherence to all curriculum standards of the same course
delivered in a “traditional”/non-e-learning format.
• Defined time lines for interacting with students via email,
chat rooms, bulletin boards, etc.
• Establishment of procedures for using the CFCC Testing
Center for proctored tests, if this service is utilized.
• Adherence to the Southern Regional Education Board’s
Principles of Good Practice and SACS Commission on Colleges’
Policy Statement on Distance Education.
E. Development Procedures for Interactive Television (ITV) Classes
and Telecourses
Selection of classes for delivery via telecourses or ITV classes
will be determined by the Vice President for Instruction and the
instructional staff of the college in conjunction with the E-Learning
Committee. Faculty will be invited to deliver courses in this
medium, or faculty desiring to teach in this medium will make
their wishes known to the E-Learning Committee.
F. Class Size and Course Loads
All e-learning courses shall count toward the normal course load
for faculty. Faculty will list an online, telecourse or ITV course
on their door schedules to reflect the number of assigned contact
hours credited for the course.
Class size for telecourses will remain the same as for other
traditional, lecture, on-campus courses. As telecourses evolve
into tele-web courses, these requirements may need to be reviewed
for appropriateness and fairness, or a new category for determining
class size developed.
Class sizes for ITV classes are somewhat determined by the physical
limitations of the designated classroom. With that taken into
account, the minimum and maximum course loads for ITV classes
are the same as traditional courses.
In 2006-07, the Distance Learning Committee was asked to recommend
a standard for enrollment caps for online classes. The committee
recommended that individual academic departments be given the
authority to determine enrollment caps for classes within their
respective areas. This recommendation was brought to the Learning
Response Committee, who in turn took it back to the faculty in
their departments. The result was a new list of enrollment caps
for online classes. See Appendix B for the enrollment caps set
by each department.
If warranted, more than one section of an online course may be
scheduled/offered each term. These decisions are made in conjunction
with the Program Facilitator, Dean, and Vice President for Instruction.
Additionally, decisions about who teaches online sections, as
well as the number of online sections an individual faculty member
may teach each term, are made in the departments based on departmental
needs. Procedures for use of online or hybrid course shells by
faculty other than the developer are outlined in Appendix C.
The E-Learning Committee recommends that restrictions not be
placed on the number of
e-learning sections a faculty member may teach (while remaining
within the College parameters for course loads) as these courses
are part of the teaching load.
G. Virtual Office Hours
Faculty teaching online courses and telecourses may choose to
list virtual office hours counting toward the required office
hours. Virtual office hours may be listed on the door schedule
at times that would be outside the normal workday or workweek.
For example, a faculty member may show office hours for an online
course or telecourse as 10:00 p.m. – 10:50 p.m. on Wednesday,
or 9:00 a.m. –9:50 a.m. on Sunday. If a faculty member chooses
to establish “non-traditional” office hours, such
as virtual office hours, the assumption is these hours would not
be conducted from the college office.
H. Evaluations
Evaluation is for the improvement of the teaching and learning
processes. The purpose of conducting specific course/student evaluations
for e-learning classes is to enable the faculty, the E-Learning
Committee, and the entire college to improve the classes and services
offered to e-learning students. The E-Learning Committee recommends
the courses offered through e-learning be evaluated every term.
Additionally, overall statistics are produced term by term for
comparison purposes with non-e-learning courses. Among the statistics
compiled are retention rates, grade distributions, and total numbers
enrolled by delivery medium.
Appendix A
Hybrid Courses
Hybrid courses are generally defined as having between 25% and
75% of the designated course time on campus and the remainder
of the course taught in an e-learning format. In contrast, an
online course is defined by the state to be one in which over
75% is taught online. Each term is more specifically defined in
the college E-Learning Plan (http://www.cf.edu/distance/dlappendices.html)
or on the Florida Consortium website (http://www.fldlc.org/consortnav/data.htm).
Hybrid Development Guidelines:
1. Evaluate which of your course’s learning activities
will be most appropriate for the online portion of your course
and which ones should be delivered in the classroom.
2. Divide the contact hours for your course between the two formats
accordingly.
3. Plan each portion of your course to utilize the advantages
of each method of delivery.
4. Keep in mind the amount of work that you usually assign in
a purely traditional course, and plan your online learning activities
accordingly.
5. Course grades should reflect activities, materials and information
in both the online and the onsite portions of the course.
6. Be sure to plan adequate opportunities for communication online
so that students may seamlessly communicate whether they are in
class or online.
7. Plan your grade-book so that students have appropriate access
to their grades online and in class.
NOTE: When entering your course into Jenzabar for scheduling,
be sure to use the designation “HY” for the Hybrid
Instructional Method and assign it a section number of either
76 or 77.
Appendix B
Enrollment Caps for Online Classes
Business, Technology & Workforce
Computer Applications classes: from 25 to 27
Principles of Management: from 25 to 30
Introduction to Quality Control, Help Desk, and Project Mgt.:
from 25 to 30
Multimedia Applications: remain at 25
Business Communications, Keyboarding I and II, Legal Assisting:
remain at 25
Communications
All classes: remain at 22
Education
EME2040: from 25 to 27
EEC2401; from 25 to 30
EDF2005: remain at 25
EDG2701: remain at 25
Humanities and Social Sciences
Human Sexuality: from 25 to 30
Marriage and the Family: from 25 to 30
All others: remain at 22 for Gordon Rule and 25 for others
Math
All online classes: remain at 25
Nursing
PN and ADN classes: remain at 25
Public Service
Criminal Justice: from 25 to 30
Science
Florida Waters: remain at 24
Florida Landscapes; remain at 24
BSC 1080: remain at 24
Spanish
All classes: remain at 25
Wellness Education
Personal Wellness: remain at 24
Drugs in Society: from 25 to 27
Appendix C
Procedures for Duplication of Online Course Shells
1. Subject area department approves need for additional sections
of an existing online or hybrid course.
2. For online format:
a. First offer additional section to the developer of the online
course, subject to the limit of the overload policy and departmental
needs.
b. If developer declines, the department will determine which
faculty member will teach the additional section. That faculty
member should then consult with the developer as a professional
courtesy before proceeding.
3. For hybrid format:
a. Regardless of campus location, first offer additional section
to the developer of the online course, subject to the limit of
the overload policy and departmental needs.
b. If location is different or the developer declines, the department
will determine which faculty member will teach the additional
section. That faculty member should then consult with the developer
as a professional courtesy before proceeding.
4. Once duplication of an online or hybrid course has been approved
in the originating department, that department will notify the
Distance Learning Help Desk at dlhelp@cf.edu. The E-Learning staff
will then duplicate the course shell and store it in a designated
area of the server, which is not open to the public. The developer’s
personalized information will be removed from the course listing
and welcome page.
5. The faculty member, who will use the duplicated shell, will
customize the shell as needed. All previous faculty personal information
will be removed by current instructor.
6. According to the annual E-Learning Plan, course management
system training is required for any faculty member assigned to
teach online.
Basic core for duplication could include, but not be limited to,
the following components:
1. The basic timeline
2. The syllabus (to be modified as needed)
3. Student lessons and assignments (to be modified as needed)
4. Lecture notes (if these were included in the development process)
The following components may be duplicated only with permission
of the developer:
1. Instructor-developed question databases
2. Instructor-designed tests/exams
3. Discussion forum items
Approved 11/07/06
