Distance Learning
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Faculty Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How do I get a course approved for distance learning?
  2. What skills does it take to be a successful distance instructor?
  3. What are the responsibilities of a DL instructor?
  4. Do I need special training to teach an online or telecourse?
  5. What tools are available for teaching Distance Learning?
  6. Do I have to offer a face-to-face distance learning orientation?
  7. Is there a place where I can post an online syllabus for my distance learning course?
  8. What support is available for me and my students?
  9. How do students checkout or purchase Telecourse tapes?
  10. Where do I find the Telecourse broadcast schedule?

 

  1. How do I get a course approved for distance learning?
     
    If you want to teach or develop a distance learning class, you must first make sure that the course outline is up to date and that the course is approved for teaching in a distance learning format. If the course has not been approved for distance learning, you must submit a Distance Learning Addendum to the Curriculum Review Committee through Curricunet http://www.curricunet.com/mission/ and get your course approved for distance learning. The curriculum committee will be reviewing your course to ensure that you have a plan for “effective student contact” since you will not be meeting with your students on campus at all or much less frequently than an on campus class. The approval process generally takes at least a semester. The good news is that you can start developing your distance learning class while you are teaching your face-to-face class.
  2. What skills does it take to be a successful distance instructor?
     
    Teaching a distance learning course can be professionally rewarding. Faculty who are comfortable with technology, like the flexibility of interacting with students asynchronously, and are able to plan and create their curriculum in advance seem to have the most success in teaching distance learning classes. Since you no longer interact with your students in a face-to-face format, you will need to structure your course differently. Your course will guide and facilitate learning. Students will not only learn the content of your course, but they will learn to be more responsible and proactive learners.
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  1. What are the responsibilities of a DL instructor?
     
    Distance Learning instructors must provide not only subject matter expertise for their class; they must also provide structure for students to be successful. Here are some hints on how to do this taken from a variety of resources.
    1. Provide an orientation for your students at the beginning of the course that requires them to read your syllabus, policies, procedures, FAQs, and expectations. Then, quiz them on this material to ensure that they understand and can be held accountable to your rules.
    2. Set clear expectations for your students. This includes your policies on responding to questions, your timelines for assignments, how quizzes will be made available, and your policies on turning in work late or missing deadlines etc.
    3. If your expectations change or some unavoidable technology challenge occurs, you should communicate these changes as soon and as clearly as possible.
    4. Create a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) section for your course and require that students read this first before they ask you questions that have already been asked and answered. After a couple of semesters of revising and clarifying your FAQs, you will find that your list will cover most of the questions that students ask and that part of your job will become much easier!
    5. Pace the class by ensuring that students keep up with their work. “Release” and “close” content throughout the course so students cannot wait until the last minute to do their work.
    6. Contact students early on who are not keeping up, so they will not feel like they are alone. By having frequent quizzes, you will have a way of tracking student progress and keep them current with your course throughout the semester.
    7. Respond to students in a timely manner. Clearly state in your policies how long it will take you to respond to an e-mail. For most students, a wait longer than two days will discourage them from continuing in the course.
    8. After you have your curriculum developed (this may take a couple of semesters), plan on logging into your class for some time each day, if possible, to ensure that no problem has occurred.
  2. Do I need special training to teach an online or telecourse?
     
    Teaching a distance learning course is not as simple as moving your face-to-face materials to the web or selecting a video to display on Comcast. Developing and teaching distance learning course requires a good understanding of technology, and specialized training or consultation in online pedagogy. It’s never too late to get started developing your distance learning course. In general, you should contact Curtis Pembrook or Cindy Vinson for an instructional design consultation as early one year prior to offering the course.
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  1. What tools are available for teaching Distance Learning?
     
    Angel Learning is the district supported course management tool. There are also many telecourses that include semester long videos. For information related to these telecourses it is best to contact your department or division chair. These telecourses have associated licensing fees. Students can view the videos on cable television, at the library, or rent the video or DVD from the library. The rental costs are $50. When the students return the video or DVD at the end of the semester, they receive $25 back. Additionally faculty can use CCC Confer http://www.cccconfer.org/index3.aspx CCC Confer offers faculty a rich set of online tools for conducting synchronous sessions that can be archived and viewed later. Some faculty also find publisher material to support their distance learning class. Often times this material can be accessed through Angel Learning. You should contact Curtis Pembrook or Cindy Vinson for assistance should you identify publisher material for your class. Please note most publisher material does require students to purchase access to the materials.
     
    How can you use distance learning technology with your face-to-face class? All classes now have virtual tools through Angel Learning. With Angel Learning, you can do the following and more!
    • post course materials
    • e-mail students
    • use the calendar tool
    • hold online discussions
    • maintain a password protected gradebook
    • use the announcement tool
  2. Do I have to offer a face-to-face distance learning orientation?
     
    No, you do not have to offer a face-to-face distance learning orientation. However, we do suggest that you offer an orientation of some type for all you distance learning courses—face-to-face or online.
  3. Is there a place where I can post an online syllabus for my distance learning course?
     
    Yes, we strongly suggest that you upload a copy of your course syllabus on the Distance Learning Schedule page, and in ANGEL.
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  1. What support is available for me and my students?
     
    The district has a course management system available for all classes. This course management system is Angel Learning. The login for Angel Learning is http://wvmccd.angellearning.com/frames.aspx
     
    Angel Learning is integrated with our student registration system, so each class section has a virtual class. As students enroll into the college they are automatically given accounts for the course sections that they are enrolled. Faculty who are in the registration system as the instructor of the course also have instructor accounts in these course shells. It takes about 24 - 48 hours after a student enrolls into a course for their account within Angel to be activated.
     
    There is also an Angel Support site that has answers to common questions for both students and faculty. The URL for this site is the following: http://angelsupport.missioncollege.org/
     
    Additionally, faculty or students can contact either Curtis Pembrook (Instructional Designer) or Cindy Vinson (Distance Learning Coordinator) with specific questions that cannot be answered on the Angel Support Site.
  2. How do students checkout or purchase Telecourse tapes?
     
    To rent the videotapes the student needs to please follow these steps:
    • Enroll in the telecourse and pay $50.00 to the Mission College Cashier
    • Take your receipt from the Cashier to the Check Out desk at the Mission College Library.
    • Read and sign the Telecourse Tape Rental Agreement (enrolled student must sign this agreement)
    • The videos for the telecourse will then be rented to you.
    Note: Rental videotapes will be available each semester when the Library is open. Call (408) 855-5150 for hours.
  3. Where do I find the Telecourse broadcast schedule?
     
    The telecourse broadcast schedule is located on the Mission College Distance Learning Schedule (http://www.missioncollege.org/distlearn/schedules.html) under “Cablecast Schedule.”
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