Instructional Technology Council

Trends in eLearning: Tracking the Impact of eLearning at Community Colleges
April 2012, Instructional Technology Council

In Focus: The Year in Review 2011

Most states and campuses have adjusted to doing more with less as the effects of the Great Recession have lingered into 2011.  The economic downturn has impacted higher education as a whole, and distance education programs have suffered, especially in the areas of budget and staffing. Colleges have lacked the funding to address the chronic problems of student retention, course quality, ADA compliance, faculty training, student preparedness and accreditation-based assessment.

Focus areas in 2011 included moving to the cloud, shifting to mobile devices, the future of the learning management system, regional accreditation, and open educational resources.

Not surprisingly, the federal and state government’s interest in distance education has intensified, as student demand and enrollment in distance education has increased. Congress reauthorizes the Higher Education Act of 1965 every four to six years, so distance educators need to pay close attention to any new regulations Congress may attempt to put in place by 2014. Some key issues include: state authorization for institutions offering distance education to out-of-state students, financial aid fraud rings and student authentication.

Attachments:

ITC 2011 Distance Education Survey Results

[Tracking the Impact of eLearning at Community Colleges]

1222 Kb

Online Web Accessibility: Seeing the Forest and the Trees
May 15, 2012 - 2:00pm-3:00pm Eastern Time
Presenters: Ronda Edwards, Executive Director, Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative, Cyndi Rowland, Executive Director, WebAIM and Technology Director, National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE), and Jonathan Whiting, Director of Training and Evaluation, WebAIM

New Accreditation Guidelines for Distance Education: What are You Doing to Prepare and Comply?
May 22, 2012 - 2:00pm-3:00pm Eastern Time
Presenter: Christina Sax, Associate Provost and Dean of Academic Outreach and Innovation, Shippensburg University

Using Technology to Facilitate Group Projects in the Virtual Classroom
June 5, 2012 - 2:00pm-3:00pm Eastern Time
Presenter: Tracy Wright, RN, PhD, CNE, Faculty, School of Nursing and Health, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Register online or see the 2011-12 Webinar Schedule for a description for each presentation. ITC will have 36 weekly presentations through July 2012.

The Spring 2012 issue of the ITC Newsletter includes some great articles that feature best practices and some steps faculty, instructors and staff members at ITC member colleges are taking to provide their students with an exceptional and successful eLearning experience!

Financial Aid Fraud Rings by Christine Mullins, Executive Director, Instrucational Technology Council

Strategies for eLearning Success by Stacey L. Hilton, Manager, Teaching eLearning Support, Yavapai College

Online Civility by Garret Brand, Professor, Grand Rapids Community College

Improve Your Student’s Writing Skills in Your Online Course with Peer Coaching by James W. Brown, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Science and former Dean of Science, Engineering, Health Sciences and Human Performance, Ocean County College

• Attend ITC's Summer Distance Education Leadership Academy
• eLearning 2012 Success in Long Beach
• ITC Thanks Its Longtime Members
• Kudos to Recipents of ITC's 2012 Awards for Excellence in eLearning
• Upcoming ITC Professional Development Webinars
• Welcome to ITC's Newest Members - Spring 2012
• Follow ITC on Facebook and Twitter!
• Subscribe to the ITC Calendar

We encourage you to submit a short article for our Summer 2012 issue. We would love to hear how your year is going and about the new and exciting things you are doing for eLearning at your college. The article submission deadline is May 3, 2012. Your regional representative will be in touch!

A big thank you goes to ITC’s regional representatives, to Amy Weinfurter and to everyone who contributed their time to share their wonderful articles and news items!