The Distance Education Subcommittee of the Curriculum Committee presents:
Adding Distance Education to Your Socrates Course Outline
Definitions of Distance Education modes:
Hybrid classes include online work and weekly class meetings through
the term of the class.
Interactive Television classes are broadcast live from our television
studio/classroom. Students attend the class on campus or view the
class from home through cable television. The class may be
supplemented with online activities.
Online courses are offered via the Internet through Blackboard or an instructional web
site. Online instructors use a variety of teaching approaches and assignments just as they
do in face-to-face classes. Online courses do not have regular weekly meetings although
they may include meetings for demonstrations and assessments.
Telecourses are a series of professionally produced programs broadcast over local cable
television, viewed from home, by video at the LRC or by rental tapes when available. The
course may be supplemented by on-campus meetings and/or online components.
While adding distance education modalities or revising distance education
modalities, keep the following in mind:
1. Your course outline in Socrates is a public document used by faculty who are teaching
the course and by outside institutions that are viewing the course for articulation
agreements.
2. Whatever the mode of instruction, the course delivery should be equivalent. For
example, the final exam/assessment should be equal in length and difficulty for all
modalities.
3. If there is a component in one modality, it should be included in all modalities, in some
form. This includes: homework, quizzes, individual or proctored exams/assessments,
class participation, and group work, etc.
4. Typical in-class activities can be adapted for distance education:
a. Group work can be done on discussion boards, chat rooms and email.
b. Class discussion can be done on discussion boards, chat rooms and email.
c. Demonstrations can be filmed through Media Services and included on a DVD for the
course that could be purchased through the bookstore. Some publishers also offer a
variety of demonstrations through their website.
d. Guest speakers may be filmed during a regular class and added to a class DVD or tape
that can be sold at the bookstore or distributed through course management
software. However, you must have the speaker’s permission first.
e. Lab work can be completed online and submitted through course management
software.
f. Hands-on work can be completed through CCCConfer application sharing – you can give
the student control of a file on your computer and discuss the changes being made.
This discussion can be done through a toll-free phone number. The entire class can
participate in this activity.
SCC Distance Education
Enhanced Access & Opportunities for Student Success
Important DE sections in Socrates:
1. Course Topics (usually section 5) – in this section exams, assessments and the final
exam/assessment can be included in the distribution of course topic hours.
2. Instruction Methods and Inclass Activities (usually section 7) – Copy and paste are appropriate
but make sure that the description is appropriate for the modality.
a. “class discussion” may read as “class discussion utilizing discussion boards” in DE modes
b. a lecture may consist of a “power point presentation lecture”
3. Typical Homework Assignments (usually section 8) – A sample assignment helps to clarify the
ways in which the course remains consistent, regardless of the mode of instruction.
4. Evaluation Methods (usually section 9) – The modalities should have equivalent evaluation
methods. (see inside)
5. Allocation of Instructional Time (usually section 10) – In the In-person modality, all instructional
time is face-to-face. Each unit of the course requires 18 hours of instruction for lecture. In the
Distance Education modalities, there are many choices of how the lecture time is used.
a. Assessment Activities do not include homework and projects done outside of class. This
should be the same as for the face-to-face modality. They can include quizzes, but if quiz
time is not specifically allocated in the Course Topics section, it shouldn’t be specifically
allocated here.
b. For the hybrid modality, include face-to-face scheduled hours. If you have a 3-unit class, you
may teach 1 unit face-to-face and 2 units online. That would be 18 hours on campus, in a
regularly scheduled classroom. If you chose to do 2 units face-to-face, then that would be 36
hours of regularly scheduled classroom time.
c. In all DE modalities, include orientation time, exam/assessment time done face-to-face and
any required discussion/presentations, etc. Any components that are required by the
course/department must be included in the outline. If your department requires a DE course
to have face-to-face exams, final exam, comprehensive final project or group discussions they
must be included in the course outline otherwise the instructor is not contractually obligated
to meet these requirements.
d. The TOTAL HOURS number should be the same as in COURSE TOPICS.
6. Regular Instructional Contact (usually section 11) – Contacts are NOT the same as hours. Be sure
to include all possible types of contacts a student may expect. You need only include a minimum
number of contacts a student may expect. A contact is any type of communication between a
student and the instructor. This may include email, lecture, discussion boards, chat rooms, phone
calls, etc.
Subcommittee members to contact for additional information:
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Kathy Camarena, LRC, Distance Education Coordinator, camarek@scc.losrios.edu
Virginia “Ginnie” Gessford, LRC, Tutoring, gessfov@scc.losrios.edu
Lonnie Larson, Math/Stat Department, larsonl@scc.losrios.edu
Virginia “Ginni” May, Math/Stat Department, Committee Chair, mayv@scc.losrios.edu
SCC Distance Education
Enhanced Access & Opportunities for Student Success