SOHO Technology -- Study: Online Education

Is Online Education Off Course? New AFT Report Proposes Standards For Online Colleges--Survey Of Practitioners Shows Support For Distance Learning But A Clear Need For A Greater Faculty Role In Decision-Making--Union To Oppose Wholesale Changes In Federal Rules Affecting Online Education

WASHINGTON, DC -- (INTERNET WIRE) -- 01/17/2001 -- Declaring that “educational quality, not financial gain, should guide where, when and how distance education is employed,” the American Federation of Teachers released a set of quality standards for college-based distance education programs and a challenge to those in Congress who are proposing sweeping changes in the rules and regulations that affect online learning. Distance Education Guidelines for Good Practice is based on a survey of AFT members who teach distance learning classes, previous studies by the union and a convention resolution at AFT’s last convention.

The guidelines call for, among other things, clear standards for content support, technical support and counseling for students, protection of intellectual property rights and proper training for faculty. The guidelines also state that “full undergraduate degree programs should include same-time same-place coursework.”

Highlights of Survey
In AFT’s survey of distance learning practitioners, the overwhelming majority enjoyed teaching through distance learning. Eighty-four percent of respondents indicated they would readily teach another distance education course. However, 70 percent felt that no more than 50 percent of the classes offered in a degree program should be delivered through distance learning. Half of those polled received no additional compensation or release time for the additional time necessary to develop an online course, despite the fact that 90 percent of those surveyed found a significant difference in preparation time necessary for the distance learning environment. AFT President Sandra Feldman said, “Clearly the growing popularity of distance education calls for a close look at its application and an emphasis on developing and maintaining high standards.” Added Feldman, “While online and distance learning are in general good options for taking a particular course or a set of courses, this does not automatically mean that it is acceptable for an entire undergraduate degree program to have no in-class component.”

Congress to Re-examine Rules Affecting Online Education
Last month, a congressional panel, The Commission on Web-based Education, called for a full review of the regulatory barriers that impede the Internet. One of the barriers the commission referred to in its report is what is known as “the 50 percent rule” that prohibits the granting of federal student aid to students who are not in a classroom seat at least 50 percent of their academic program. The Commission’s vice chairman Rep. Johnny Isakson (R –Georgia), who has called the 50 percent rule “archaic,” said during the commission’s December 19 news conference that “seat time is sort of irrelevant.”

With the exception of a handful of programs that have been granted waivers by the U.S. Department of Education, the class-time requirement has effectively barred online colleges from arranging federally backed financial aid for enrolled students. Said Feldman, “While we might favor some changes in the class-time requirement, we strongly oppose its wholesale elimination.” Added Feldman, “This law is on the books for a reason, besides the obvious education argument that education takes time, and time in class is beneficial. We, as a nation, experienced terrible scandals with trade and technical schools and correspondence courses before this law was enacted. An Internet-based degree program, like a correspondence school, is much harder to audit than a traditional program, and the chances for abuse are greater.”
Congress will likely consider the elimination of the student 50 percent rule and similar regulations later this session.

Colleges and Universities – Keeping Up With the Joneses
Distance education is one of the fastest-growing trends in higher education. In addition to for-profit online businesses such as eCollege, Jones and the University of Phoenix Online, the nation’s top universities are increasingly adding their names to the list of for-profit online ventures. Columbia, Stanford, the University of Chicago, New York University and Temple are among those offering online degree programs. Some have partnered with former junk bond king Michael Miliken’s online higher education venture UNext.com. In fact, 70 percent of the nation’s more than 4,000 two- and four-year colleges offered online courses last year, up from 48 percent in 1998, according to Market Retrieval Service.

Bill Scheuerman, an AFT vice president and the chairman of AFT’s Higher Education program and policy council said, “It is critical that we hold online programs to a high standard of academic rigor and ensure that the necessary interaction occurs between students and other students and students and faculty.” Added Scheuerman, “These degrees won’t be worth the paper they’re printed on, credits won’t be accepted for transfer and the people who earned these diplomas will have a hard time having them accepted in the workplace and elsewhere if standards are weak.”

Guidelines for Good Practice – General Principles
AFT’s guidelines for distance learning contain the following general principles:

Distance education students should be given advance information about course requirements, equipment needs and techniques for succeeding in a distance learning environment, as well as technical training and support throughout the course. No student should be offered distance education as his or her only opportunity to obtain a public college education.
Close personal interaction should to be maintained in distance education courses among students and between teachers and students through electronic means, and whenever feasible, opportunities for same-time same-place interaction should be provided.
Equivalent library materials and research opportunities should be made available to distance education students.
Assessment of student knowledge, skills and performance should be as rigorous as assessments in classroom-based courses.
Academic counseling and advising should be available to distance learning students at the same level as it is for students in more traditional campus environments.
Academic faculty should shape, approve and evaluate distance education courses. Faculty who teach distance education courses need to be adequately compensated and provided with the necessary time, training and technical support to develop and conduct classes. Faculty should retain creative control and intellectual property rights over the use and re-use of distance education materials.
Full undergraduate degree programs should include classroom-based coursework, with exceptions for students truly unable to participate in classroom education.

AFT and Its Local Affiliates Are Already Working to Apply Standards
A number of AFT local unions have already begun to negotiate quality standards for distance learning into their contracts with colleges and universities.

The University of Massachusetts Faculty Federation at the University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth have negotiated quality standards for distance learning classes. Overseeing the standards is a faculty-led committee that regularly reviews the courses, the way they are evaluated, and the way students are assessed. Additionally, faculty members receive additional compensation for developing online courses. Student enrollment limits are contractually capped and are comparable to an on campus course.

In Illinois, AFT locals at Belleville Area College and Western Illinois University have both negotiated language dealing with materials used in distance learning courses, class size and use of faculty.

In Pennsylvania, The Bucks County Community College Federation of Teachers/AFT has negotiated rules where faculty and academic departments have the right to review electronic courses developed outside the college and determine whether they should be included in the college’s offerings.

In New York, The Suffolk County Community College Federation of Teachers/AFT, has negotiated a “Labor/Management Committee on Technology and Distance Education” to address issues of technological change, faculty also determine which and how many courses should be offered through distance learning.

Last month, in California, The Los Angeles Community College Guild/AFT, negotiated contract protections guaranteeing union members their intellectual property rights for creative property created for distance education courses as well as traditional courses.

Ramifications for PreK – 12 Education
Distance Learning Guidelines for Good Practice was developed by the union’s higher education program and policy council primarily for online college courses and degree programs; however, the AFT also intends to use these standards as a guidepost for evaluating online programs and courses designed for elementary and secondary education. Recently, online charter schools such as Ohio’s eCOT and companies such as Apex Learning Inc., Class.com and K12 have begun offering courses for the lower grades. Said Feldman, “For example, it’s important to know if there is a knowledgeable teacher on the other end of the phone or at a computer terminal who can promptly answer questions. Technical support is important as well. If the software or hardware doesn’t operate – no school.” Added Feldman, “We’re going to take a close look at some of these programs. Some courses just don’t work very well in an online environment, take high school chemistry as an example. K12 claims they can do it with animated beakers and bunsen burners. I’m not sure that’s the same as mixing the chemicals, lighting the burner, smelling the sulfur and watching the chemical reaction. I have to be convinced.”

Distance Education Guidelines for Good Practice Available Online
The entire report, Distance Education Guidelines for Good Practice and the practitioner survey, can be found on the American Federation of Teachers Web-site at www.aft.org/higher_ed/technology. The report will be posted on the morning of January 17. Hard copies of the report are available for $2.00 by writing to the American Federation of Teachers Higher Education Department, 555 New Jersey Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001.

Other reports on technology available online from the AFT include:

Teaming Up with Technology: How Unions Can Harness the Technology Revolution on Campus
Technology Issues: A Survey of Negotiations aft.org/higher_education/technology A sample of contract language on the subject of distance learning from faculty contracts around the country.
What’s the Difference? A Review of Contemporary Research on the Effectiveness of Distance Learning in Higher Education

More Information on the American Federation of Teachers
The million-member American Federation of Teachers represents 120,000- college and university faculty. AFT has more higher education members than any other union. The union also represents PreK –12 teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, nurses and other health care professionals and state and local government employees.

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