Supporting Online Learning

I just had a long discussion with one of our part-time teachers trying to make online learning work at another school. He was (visibly) frustrated. Among other things he didn't have

• Facilities (No computer lab to work in, and internet connections were difficult to access)


• Support (No management or technical support)


• Student Competency and Aptitude (Some students did not like online learning and did not care to like it)

He then said that he began thinking more about the things that I had said regarding online learning as BOTH a teacher choice and a student choice. I had also been thinking about this during the holidays and it seemed that for online learning to move to the next level at DLS-CSB, I would need to work with others in coming up with policies that are more supportive of online learning practices. Together with some administrator-friends, we created a draft of policies for online learning at DLS-CSB.

Some highlights of these policies:

• Proposed certification system for online faculty;


• Level-certified online faculty may declare up to 50% of their total lecture hours as online sessions (for these sessions, faculty and students may decide to be off-campus);


• Level-certified online faculty can declare online sessions as make-up classes (with some conditions)

I will be presenting the draft to our online learning teachers for their comments in the next two weeks. Wish us luck.