1 / 15

The Higher Education Opportunity Act

The Higher Education Opportunity Act. Laura Pedrick Online Program Council November 2008. Higher Education Opportunity Act. Updates, reauthorizes 1965 Higher Education Act HEOA passed in August 2008 Now in negotiated rule-making phase Series of public hearings have been held

shadow
Download Presentation

The Higher Education Opportunity Act

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Higher Education Opportunity Act Laura Pedrick Online Program Council November 2008

  2. Higher Education Opportunity Act • Updates, reauthorizes 1965 Higher Education Act • HEOA passed in August 2008 • Now in negotiated rule-making phase • Series of public hearings have been held • Final rules to be published Nov 1, 2009 • Effective date July 2010

  3. Distance Education Provisions • Definition of distance education: • Distance education means education that uses one or more of the { following} technologies (i) to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor; and (ii) to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor, synchronously or asynchronously. The technologies used may include: (i) the internet; (ii) one way and two way transmissions through open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, broadband lines, fiber optics, satellite, or wireless communications devices; (iii) audioconferencing; or (iv) videocassettes, DVDs, and CD-Roms, if the videocassettes, DVDs or CD-Roms are used in conjunction with any of the technologies listed in clauses (i) through (iii).

  4. Distance Education Provisions • National Research Council study comparing online and face-to-face learning (depends on funding) • Accreditor responsibilities • Ensure quality of DE programs, courses • Ensure integrity

  5. Distance Education Provisions • Verification/authorization of students in online programs • The revised law requires that the accreditor require institutions offering distance education or correspondence education to have processes through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in the distance education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes and receives the academic credit.

  6. Reaction • Media • Example: Chronicle of Higher Education story “Is That Online Student Who He Says He Is?”--story’s ‘new requirements’ angle obscures the fact that HEOA does not mandate the purchase of new verification systems

  7. Reaction • Vendors • New technologies • Remote proctor, identity verification, webcam, biometrics (Krypterion’s Webassessor; Securexam Remote Proctor) • Integration into Moodle (FactCheck-X) • Interest in promoting services

  8. Secureexam Remote Proctor

  9. Reaction • Higher education organizations • ITC, WCET, others • Seeking to influence the negotiated rulemaking process

  10. Higher Learning Commission Response • Policy No. 3.09 VERIFICATION OF THE IDENTITY OF STUDENTS IN DISTANCE OR CORRESPONDENCE EDUCATION • Institutions offering distance education or correspondence education, as specified in the federal definitions shall have processes through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in the distance education or correspondence education courses or programs is the same student who participates in and completes and receives the academic credit.

  11. HLC Review of Student Verification • The Commission will review an institution’s student identity verification protocols when an institution requests permission to add programs in distance delivery and prior to reaffirmation of accreditation. The Commission will also require that institutions submit information about student identity verification protocols on the Commission’s Annual Institutional Data Update.

  12. HLC Review of Student Verification • (Note: The Commission expects that as federal regulations develop and verification technology improves, the Commission’s policy expectations with regard to verification of student identity may develop increasing specificity.) • Initially institutions may use simple efforts already in use at most institutions to verify the identity of their students. • use of IDs and passwords.

  13. Discussion Points • Cost • Privacy • Artificial distinction between online & face-to-face learners • Embed verification in course design--frequent low-stakes assessment vs. high stakes exams

  14. Conclusion • Stay tuned--we will know more next year • For now, UWM is in compliance with HLC’s new DE-related accreditation standards • Some new provisions regarding student verification likely announced by summer 2010 • We can expect heightened scrutiny of online programs for 2014-15 self-study process

  15. Questions?

More Related