Distance Education Plan
Purpose of this Plan
The Distance Education Task Force was formed in February 2005 to develop a Distance Education Strategic Plan for the Sierra Pacific Community College District (SPCCD). This plan incorporates the work done by a district-wide group over the last two years regarding the future of distance education (DE) within the three-college district and lays a foundation for the future of DE at SPCCD.
Distance Education Modes
All DE modes offered at SPCCD will be considered in the plan. Currently, these include the following: online, hybrid, television and tele-web.
Definition of Distance Education Modes
Online course—An online course is a course that is offered over the Internet. Typically, content is presented through web pages and class discussions using a combination of email, mailing lists, bulletin boards, chat rooms, or newsgroups. All class meetings, assignments, lectures and assessments are online (with the exception of orientation meetings or other face-to-face examinations as determined by the professor).
Hybrid course—A hybrid course is a course that is taught online using similar web-based tools and activities as an online class. Some portion of the course meeting time is conducted online, and the remaining percentage of the class is conducted in a traditional classroom manner.
Television or Tele-Web course—This type of course uses cable TV to deliver some or all of the course content. A tele-web course merges online and TV delivery. Typically, only a limited number of face-to-face meetings are held and the remainder of the course is conducted using television delivery of content and web-based activities, communication and discussion.
Web-Enhanced course—This type of course is taught face-to-face for 100% of the course meeting time, but classroom assignments and materials are supplemented with web-based activities. Examples are: online projects, handouts and materials, online discussion,