Beyond Announcements: A Conversation on Having Regular and Substantive Interaction in Online Courses
Abstract: As we emerge from the season of emergency remote learning, faculty and learning designers are now able to focus on creating high-quality online learning experiences for learners. The most widely used research-based guidelines for high-quality online courses and programs are the Quality Matters (QM) Rubric, the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Scorecards and the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership (Members of the National Council for Online Education, 2022). Additionally, there is an amendment to the Higher Education Act (HEA) (34 C.R.F. ยง600.2) from the United States Department of Education (DOE) regarding the regular and substantive interaction initiated by instructors facilitating online courses (Negotiated Rulemaking for Higher Education 2018-19, 2020). This amendment is not prescriptive as to what constitutes regular and substantive interaction, only that interaction is instructor initiated to differentiate online course and correspondence courses, where learners generally initiate contact with their instructor. The intention of this poster presentation is to stimulate conversations amongst practitioners as to the ways to have regular and substantive interaction initiated by instructors with learners to meet this regulation.
Presider: Parviz Safadel, University of Louisiana Monroe