February 1, 2009

Distance Education Report - February 1, 2009 - Full Issue PDF
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The Higher Education Opportunity Act: Implications for Distance Educators
By Fred Lokken, Chair, the Intructional Technology Council
After nearly six years of countless hearings, intensive lobbying, the Spellings Commission, and tactical delays, Congress finally passed the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) this past summer. The act re-authorized and updated the Higher Education Act of 1965. The overall theme of the new law is increased accountability for higher education, and distance education has been included.

Secrets for Successful e-Tutoring
Distance education has become ubiquitous, but institutions are often not as proficient at providing student support as they are at providing subject matter education. This concern was the basis for a Davis Education Grant received by the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium (CTDLC) in 2001, which used the funding to start a unique e-tutoring program that is easily transferrable to other institutions.

Using Surveys to Improve Courses, Programs, and Instruction, Part 3
By Patti Shank, PhD, CPT
Surveys are often the tool of choice for evaluating online courses and instruction because they are relatively easy to develop and administer. But this ease is truly a double-edged sword because it’s very, very easy to write questions whose answers provide information of little value.

How Your Students See Your Courses
By Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti
Our perceptions of web-based instruction are colored by its history. In its early days web-based instruction was seen as a solution to a problem: students who were separated from campus either by geography or schedule would be able to take advantage of web-based instruction to get the training or degree they desired, but did not compare it to face-to-face instruction.

51 Ways to Maintain Academic Integrity in an Online Course
By Prepared by Lori McNabb and Michael Anderson for the University of Texas TeleCampus
Ideas for the Prevention Approach: Eliminate or reduce the opportunities to cheat and reduce the pressure to cheat.