History - Valencia College



Strategic Initiative: Online LearningHistoryValencia began offering alternative delivery courses in the early 1990’s, and as technology evolved and student demand grew, Valencia continued to increase the number of course and program offerings in both hybrid and online modalities (Meiller and Associates, 2013). Throughout the last decade, Valencia’s online learning practices evolved organically amongst our academic community, while federal and state regulations and requirements increased as the national demand for distance learning escalated and concerns regarding the quality of online learning grew (Allen and Seaman, 2014). In 2013, Valencia commissioned Diane Meiller and Associates to perform an assessment of online learning. The assessment report was intended to “provide us with a shared understanding of where we are today, and lay the foundation for our collaborative planning of how best to move forward in ways that are consistent with Valencia’s learning-centered culture, while embracing the elasticity for change that may be required” (Sandy Shugart, 2014). During the assessment, several recurring themes emerged through interviews, group sessions, survey results and data analysis (Meiller and Associates, 2013). These themes represent several areas where we have opportunities to improve, particularly in terms of providing a consistent experience to students and faculty. In February 2015, the Learning Leadership Council commissioned short-term work teams to explore these areas and implement strategies, processes, practices and/or tools that will increase online student success, decrease the gap in success between instructional modalities, and improve the student experience in online and hybrid courses. DataVarious data have been collected concerning enrollments, student learning, and instruction across modalities. Short descriptions of relevant data are below, and the data can be accessed using the links that follow.Number of full-time and part-time faculty teaching for the first time in online and hybrid modalities (link)Percent of students taught by full-time and part-time faculty (link)Number of fully online students by term for 2012-2015 (link)Percent of FTE by modality; Credit student headcount; Online student headcount; Average credit hours attempted; First time online and hybrid students broken down by term; Collegewide student success in each modality; Full-time and part-time collegewide student success; Collegewide student success in top 10 high enrolled online courses; Positive and negative success gaps (link)Working Theory Online and hybrid teaching and learning are successful when students and faculty are prepared and fully supported.Strategic Vision Valencia is a leader in providing high quality online and hybrid learning and support experiences to a diverse population of students. Goal 1. Establish a clearly articulated model for quality online and hybrid teaching and learning at Valencia. Objective 1: Define the purpose, strategic value, intended audiences, desired outcomes, and intended student experience for online and hybrid teaching and learning at Valencia.Objective 2: Implement the infrastructure and organizational structure required to support the intended student experience.Objective 3: Analyze course and program offerings to determine intentional program pathways for career and transfer.Objective 4: Institute college-wide enrollment planning/coordination for online and hybrid courses and programs.Objective 5: Implement a marketing and communication plan for diverse audiences. Objective 6: Evaluate the success of the articulated model. Objective 7: Integrate online and face-to-face instruction (hybrid) in a planned and pedagogically valuable manner that clarifies modality choices for students.Objective 8: Analyze current processes and practices to identify strategies, improvements and opportunities for hybrid learning. Objective 9: Refine the definition of hybrid learning and design models.Objective 10: Integrate the revised definition and strategy into current learning opportunities, communication strategies and college processes for faculty, staff and students.Goal 2. Implement an on-going improvement cycle for online and hybrid learning that promotes informed decision-making. Objective 1: Develop key performance indicators consistent with outcomes identified in the strategic plan.Objective 2: Examine the effectiveness of strategies, processes, and interventions resulting from online work plans and the strategic plan.Objective 3: Implement strategies and tools to promote the use of data for informed decision-making for campus-based and college-wide audiences.Goal 3. Develop comparable student service and learning support strategies for the 100% (fully) online learner at Valencia.Objective 1: Review and evaluate current student service and learning support strategies to discern additional needs of the 100% (fully) online learner.Objective 2: Implement additional student service and learning support strategies for the 100% (fully) online learner.Objective 3: Incorporate tools and practices that foster a sense of community and personal connection for the 100% (fully) online learner.Objective 4: Determine online student services and learning support strategies that can be expedited to all students.Goal 4. Students will be prepared to succeed in the online and hybrid learning environments.Objective 1: Students will assess their preparedness for online and hybrid learning and make informed decisions about course modalities.Objective 2: Students will develop skills to succeed in the online and hybrid learning environments (academic integrity, study skills, communication skills and technical skills).Objective 3: Students will “start right” in online and hybrid learning environments with clear course expectations and by engaging with course content rather than technical and preparedness challenges. Goal 5. Faculty will be prepared to deliver and design high quality online and hybrid courses.?? Objective 1:? Develop the outcomes, processes, structure and learning experiences for a faculty development program.Objective 2:? Implement the faculty development program to support consistent quality teaching and design.Objective 3: ?Employ best practices for successful student and faculty experiences.Goal 6. Deans, chairs and coordinators will be prepared to observe, evaluate and make data-informed decisions for online and hybrid courses.Objective 1: Develop the outcomes, processes, structure and learning experiences for a development program.Objective 2: Implement the dean and chair development program to support quality and access. Goal 7. Provide resources and guidelines for faculty and deans to incorporate quality course and curriculum design materials to enhance the online learning environment.Objective 1: Create a series of course and curriculum design materials for faculty to use in building quality online and hybrid courses (e.g., best practices checklists, master course templates, online style guides, model syllabi, etc).Objective 2: Create a set of guidelines to help deans, chairs, and coordinators make decisions about course and curriculum modalities and revisions. Goal 8: Implement a continuous improvement cycle to ensure consistent, reliable and current technology for online and hybrid teaching and learning.Objective 1: Develop on-going feedback mechanisms to enhance services, support and communication between stakeholders.Objective 2: Implement processes to regularly review current and emerging online and hybrid teaching and learning technologies. ................
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