Module 1 Online Teaching at MiraCosta College: The What

Getting familiar with requirements for teaching online at MiraCosta

In This Section

How MiraCosta College translates external Distance Education (DE) regulation and accreditation into local policy
An introduction to key MiraCosta distance education documents:
- Administrative Procedure (AP) 4105
- MiraCosta Class Quality Guidelines
- DE Self-Certification Checklist

Distance Education Landscape at MiraCosta

The graphic below represents how external DE regulations and standards (gray boxes) are processed through shared governance and operational faculty and staff at MiraCosta (blue box) to generate resources and guidance (green boxes) for MiraCosta reference. These key DE resources are designed to ensure that DE at MiraCosta complies with these external requirements. If you wish to explore more detail of any item in the graphic, select any underlined item to open that item for review. Read the explanation below the graphic for a high-level explanation.

Again, the interactive graphic above shows how MiraCosta College translates external Distance Education (DE) requirements into local guidance. You are not expected to be familiar with the details of ACCJC accreditation standards, federal regulations, or California Title 5 requirements for DE. But feel free to explore the links in the graphic if you are interested! An easier option is to review the MiraCosta DE Handbook module on those external requirements - but this is not an expectation for the purpose of this training.

At MiraCosta, it's up to faculty as part of our 10+1 purview to lead the way in translating those external DE requirements into local policy/procedure (AP 4105), curriculum (COR: Course Outlines of Record), and teaching (MiraCosta Online Class Quality Guidelines). In the graphic, the Courses and Programs Committee (CPC) and MiraCosta Online Educators (MOE) are the Academic Senate subcommittees which are responsible for most of this work, in collaboration with the faculty and staff of the Online Education and Instructional Design department.

Required training on all this (what you're doing right now!) is a working condition, and as such is negotiated between faculty unions and the district. But even this training was developed by a workgroup composed primarily of faculty representatives, and reviewed by the Academic Senate.

So: What are the requirements faculty teaching DE classes must follow, which are reiterated in local policy, practice, and guidelines? Below are the key items you should be aware of, and which will be revisited as to how to ensure these are fulfilled in your classes, throughout this certification course.

Regulatory Requirements that Apply to DE Course Sections

Ensuring Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) between instructor and students (Module 5)
- This includes requirements related to instruction as well as monitoring student progress and providing support proactively
Complying with student authentication requirements, typically by situating the class in Canvas (this module)
Ensuring that the SURF course schedule provides required information about the course section (this module)

Regulatory Requirements that Apply to All Course Sections, but
Have Particular Significance for DE

Following the Course Outline of Record and any other departmental directives for course development and teaching (this module)
- Course Outlines of Record for some DE courses may require Regular and Substantive Interaction among students - this is a critical item to be aware of when designing and teaching a DE class
Ensuring that class tools and materials comply with accessibility standards (Module 3)
Maintaining student privacy (FERPA compliance) (Module 2)
Complying with copyright law (Module 2)
Following financial aid requirements for documenting student attendance (this module)

Syllabus Requirements for DE Course Sections from the
MiraCosta Syllabus Checklist

An instructor - and/or department - established policy describing the frequency and timeliness of instructor-initiated interaction and instructor feedback, and the expectations for student participation in student-to-student interaction, are to be posted in the syllabus (per AP 4105 – Distance Education).
Description of how, where, and when course documents are made available to students.
Support services available to online students.

Complying with these basic requirements is the starting point, not the end goal, when developing and teaching an excellent online class. This module focuses on raising your awareness of the MiraCosta of these requirements and the resources the college provides to support you and your students. Additional modules will give you many more good practices to consider as you work toward excellence in your online teaching.

Administrative Procedure (AP) 4105

AP 4105Links to an external site. is the closest thing MiraCosta has to a "policy" about distance education. Most California Community Colleges have an AP 4105 or equivalent, and they share many commonalities. But don't take for granted that if you've seen one, you've seen 'em all - the details can vary from college to college.

As noted above, the major external references that inform AP 4105 are federal, state, and accreditor standards for distance education.

When a course is approved by CPC for offering via distance education at MiraCosta, the department proposing the course agrees that all online and hybrid sections of that course will be taught in accordance with this AP. If you have any questions about your department's expectations or resources related to this, do not hesitate to contact your department chair. In some departments, there may also be lead faculty who help guide faculty new to teaching certain courses online.

MiraCosta Online Class Quality Guidelines and DE Self-Certification Checklist

The MiraCosta Online Class Quality Guidelines provides interpretive guidance to faculty regarding compliance with AP 4105.

As stated in the MiraCosta Online Class Quality GuidelinesLinks to an external site., "the guidelines were developed by the MiraCosta Online Educators committee to help faculty develop and redesign online classes and foster conversation in departments about effective and equity-minded teaching practices in online education." Originally developed and approved in 2016, MOE substantially revised these in 2020-21 to reflect updates to external regulations and a greater emphasis on equity. MOE continues to regularly review and update the Guidelines as needed to reflect updates to AP 4105 as well as evolving understandings and examples of good practice. Open the MiraCosta Online Class Quality Guidelines dosdfLinks to an external site. document in a separate tab and take some time to familiarize yourself with the structure and content, as described below:

The Guidelines begin with requirements for online classes based on MiraCosta policy and procedure, primarily AP 4105. These requirements comprise the DE Self-Certification Checklist which is contractually required for all MiraCosta faculty new to teaching online to self-certify their understanding and compliance. Be sure you have thoroughly understood the requirements!
The heart of the Guidelines is a set of recommended practices and examples for online teaching "based on principles for good teaching practice and encouraging equity in online education. [The] list is not meant to be prescriptive or all-inclusive. It includes examples that will vary in their applicability across classes and disciplines, and are offered to encourage creativity and exploration."
The Guidelines conclude by providing three sets of principles for quality, equity-minded online education. These principles were critical to the committee as it developed and organized the examples provided in Part II of the document. Many educators find principles to be important in helping to make decisions about course design and teaching.

Quick Check

Which of the following is not a requirement for all instructors teaching distance education classes at MiraCosta?

Maintain Regular and Substantive Interaction between the instructor and the students.: Incorrect: This is a requirement in federal, state, local, and accreditation policy.
Maintain Regular and Substantive Interaction among students.: Correct: This may be a requirement for some classes, as specified in the Course Outline of Record, but it is not required for all courses at MiraCosta.
In the syllabus, direct students to the MiraCosta support services available to them.: Incorrect: The MiraCosta syllabus checklist requires this for all distance education classes at MiraCosta.
In the syllabus, provide your policy for the frequency and timeliness of your interaction and feedback with students.: Incorrect: The MiraCosta syllabus checklist requires this for all distance education classes at MiraCosta.

On the next page, we'll begin to think about how MiraCosta faculty can meet the requirements for an online class, and consider some of the recommendations as well.