CTI POLICIES
- Online pedagogical learning that walk faculty through online collaboration and cooperation, strategy for online teaching, and all aspects of online teaching with research articles and scholarly information. This course will be a six-to-eight weeks content and it is required for the online teaching program. Faculty with previous pedagogical knowledge of online teaching from another higher education institution that are joining Langston University can provide evidence of their past online trainings, skills, and experiences and move to the second course.
- LMSreview course it is a course that ensures faculty for online teaching know all major tools and their use and applications of LMSfor design, delivery and production of course content. It has five modules on Grading, Dropbox, Assignments, Discussions, Content, delivery and building quizzes. It is a 6-week course. We offered this course for the first time in the fall of 2016. Faculty is required to finish this course with 100% passing rate.
- Quality Matters Rubric Course (APPQMR) that ensures faculty knowledge of designing a learner-based course which aligns course objectives with contents, assessment tools and student outcomes. It is a 2-week course offered by Quality Matters and faculty members that successfully complete all of the course requirements will receive a certificate of completion. For more information on this course please go to the Quality Matters website.
- Quality Matters –Improving your online course:it is a 2-week course to train and help faculty to improve the quality of online and blended courses. Faculty will use the Quality Matters rubric standards to review and evaluate their course components and develop a plan for improvement. There are 21 specific review standards in the QMHigher Education Rubric Workbook that faculty must follow to review their courses. In this course, faculty will receive a certificate of completion from the Quality Matters organization after successfully completing the course. For more information, please click here.
- Dr. Soltani (Chair)
- Ally Sharp
- Richard Osei
- Kelly Henderson
- Dr. Mundende
- Desmond Delk
- Cherie Ognibene
- Susan Mathew
- Lonnie Johnson Jr.
Blended Course Learning Policy
Langston University maintains rigorous standards regarding all methods of classroom instruction.
This University Policy outlines the standards regarding Blended/Hybrid learning in two distinct phases:
(1) Blended instructor credentialing and
(2) Blended course requirements.
This policy is exclusive to Blended courses.
For guidelines on online course Policy see the “Online Learning Policy.”
Phase I
Blended Course Instructor Credentialing
Faculty seeking to teach Blended courses at Langston University must submit to the Online Learning Committee (OLC) evidence of compliance in each of the following three categories: LU LMS Review Course, Blended Course Design/Alignment, and continuous Improvement for Blended Teaching. Successful completion of Category I through II
results in initial blended instructor credentialing. Instructors must complete at least one activity from Category III every two years to maintain Blended Instructor credential status.
Category I – Current LU LMS Review Course
- Purpose: Faculty must demonstrate the ability to utilize the communication, assessments, and content components of LU LMS Review Course.
- Completion of the LU LMS Review Course. (offered as needed)
Category II – Blended Course Design/Alignment
- Purpose: Faculty must demonstrate ability and expertise in blended course design.
- Completion of Applying Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) course
Category III – Continuous Improvement for Blended Teaching
- Purpose: After two consecutive years of Blended Instructor credential status, faculty must demonstrate a continuous improvement to blended learning by engaging in activities focused on improving the quality and standards of their blended teaching. Continuous improvement may be demonstrated through a variety of means including, but not limited to the following recommended evidence or professional development:
- Training in multimedia products pertinent to their proposed course material delivery;
- Mentoring from an experienced online or blended instructor for at least one semester and longer if deemed appropriate;
- Continuing professional development in Blended teaching;
- Continuing education courses with a focus in delivering Blended methodology;
- Participation in conferences, webinars, forums or workshops related to Blended or online teaching; or
- Mentoring new instructors for teaching Blended courses.
- At least one activity from this Category must be completed every two years to maintain Blended Instructor credential status.
Phase II
Online Course Requirements
The purpose of this process is to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate the content of the Blended course has to be designed to meet the rigorous standards and requirements of Langston University for Blended teaching. Faculty seeking to teach Blended courses at Langston University must also comply with the following Blended course requirement processes in coordination with the Online Learning Committee (OLC) and the relevant Department Chair/Dean:
- The course syllabus must state clearly the percentage of online and face-to-face for the Blended course.
- The online course components of a Blended course must meet all requirements of online teaching such as:
- Objectives of online sections, modules, or weeks must be clearly defined.
- The assessment of online section and the type of assignment should be defined to identify the students’ accomplishment
- The online content interactions, assessment tools and students’ achievements from objectives must be aligned clearly so that students know what is expected of their online activities.
Approval Process of a Blended Course:
- Step 1: Faculty members teaching and designing the Blended course will work in advance of the course offering with the CTI team especially the Instructional Designer on the online components of the course.
- Step 2: The faculty members teaching/designing the Blended course will submit the finished Blended course to the CTI review team for a preliminary review.
- Step 3: After CTI approval of the course, the CTI review team will submit the completed review process to the OLC, and the OLC will take CTI review process and recommendations for the course approval. Course review teams must contain a team chair, another qualified reviewer, and whenever possible, a subject matter expert to evaluate course content. The initial review process should take no more than one week to complete.
- Approval: If the Blended course online components meets 85% current Quality Matters Expectations as stated on the Quality Matters Scoring Sheet of Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric, the course will be approved for teaching with no restriction.
- Approval, with stipulations: In this case the course will refer to the CTI Instructional Designer for assistance and improvement.
- Denial: If the course denied approval, the course designer or instructor must review the QM Rubric; and/or go through additional training or credentialing.
- Step 4: The OLC will conclude the result of the review process and provides an announcement for the course status to the relevant Department Chair/Dean.
Note: If revisions are required, course instructors should take no more than two weeks to resubmit the revisions. Follow up reviews will be conducted by the team chair and Instructional Designer.
If a Blended course has to be offered with an instructor that did not design the course, that instructor must go through a minimum of one day or 5 hours of training with the CTI team. If additional training is needed, the CTI team will schedule more trainings until the new instructor teaching the blended course becomes efficient in online activities.
Questions?
Please contact the CTI Director, OLC members, or your respective Department Chair/Dean.
The Online Learning Committee (OLC) Members
The below individuals have approved of this draft.
- Ebrahim Soltani (Chair)
- Desmond Delk
- Donna Foster
- Kelly Henderson
- Lonnie Johnson Jr.
- Chongo Mundunde
- Cherie Ognibene
- Alexandra Sharp
- Angie Thomas
Online Attendance and Withdrawal Policy
The Title IV of the Higher Education Act Programs (2014, Feb.) stated that “ensure that, when determining a withdrawal date or whether a student has begun attendance, it adheres to the definition of academic attendance and attendance at an academically related activity (34 C.F.R. § 668.22(l)(7), effective July 1, 2011; 34 C.F.R. § 668.21).” (p. 9) Also, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid in the 20182019 Federal student aid handbook clearly defined what type of assignment contribute to the students’ attendance in online/distance education. In page 28 of chapter 2, it is defined what is and is not a valid document of attendance “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 submission of an exam,
- Documented student participation in an interactive tutorial or computer-assisted instruction,
- A posting by the student showing the student’s participation in an online study group that is assigned by the institution,
- A posting by the student in a discussion forum showing the student’s participation in an online discussion about academic matters, and
- An email 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.”
To comply with the federal financial aid regulations as stated above and the Langston University Policy, the OLC (Online Learning Committee) concluded that students must complete at least one academically-related assignment 10 days after the university’s stated add/drop date.
Examples of such an assignment could include:
- Contributing to a graded online discussion
- Taking a graded quiz or exam
- Submitting an assigned assignment to Dropbox for grading.
- Initiating an email communication with the instructor to ask a course-related question.
Reference:
- U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General (2014, February), Title IV of the Higher Education Act Programs: Additional safeguards are needed to help mitigate the risks that are unique to the Distance Education Environment, pages (9, 27). Retrieved from here.
- U.S. Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid, 2018-2019 Federal student aid handbook, v(2) School eligibility and operations: Chapter 2- Program Eligibility, written arrangement, & Distance Education, pages (27). Retrieved from here.
The Online Learning Committee (OLC) Members
The below individuals have approved of this draft.
- Ebrahim Soltani (Chair)
- Desmond Delk
- Donna Foster
- Kelly Henderson
- Lonnie Johnson Jr.
- Chongo Mundunde
- Cherie Ognibene
- Alexandra Sharp
- Angie Thomas