The US Department of Education has approved a major overhaul of regulations relating to distance education that will go into effect July 1, 2021. This session will provide participants with an overview of the regulations related to regular and substantive interaction requirements for distance education.
Recent regulatory changes to the definition of distance education will have a profound impact on how instructional designers and faculty develop and teach distance education courses. These changes are particularly significant given the use of online education as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the huge increase in the number of both faculty and students in online education courses, consumer expectations around the quality of online education, and accreditor attention to online education. This session will focus on recent changes to the Department of Education’s definition of distance education with an emphasis on the new definition of regular and substantive interaction. Attendees in this session will:
- Understand recent changes to the definition of distance education with an emphasis on:
- Current understanding of modalities covered in the definition,
- Definition of “instructor,”
- Definition of “regular,” and
- Definition of “substantive.”
- Understand the pedagogical impact of the changes to the definition of distance education including a discussion of its impact on:
- Course design,
- Instructional delivery,
- Faculty engagement,
- Student engagement, and
- Financial aid eligibility.
- Participate in the development of collaborative strategies for translating federal regulatory requirements into institutional policies.
- Participate in the development of collaborative strategies translating federal regulatory requirements into instructional best practices.
The session will incorporate a combination of didactic and interactive interactions. Session speakers will provide ample time to answer participant questions.