eLearning

SBCTC eLearning works every day to:

1. Provide system-wide access to commonly needed, centrally funded, teaching and learning technologies, related support services and professional development;
2. Support new learning models in flexible, anytime, anywhere learning spaces;
3. Increase access to educational opportunities for all students — not just students at a geographical distance from the college;
4. Support learners and faculty using digital, mobile, networked technologies to connect content, experts, and other learners; and
5. Enable the sharing and re-mixing of openly licensed content, data and ideas in new ways across the colleges and with the world.

1. eLearning is all about increasing student access and student success.
• When we struggle with complex, controversial issues, we will ask one question to solve them: "What is best for student learning?"
2. eLearning has become core to higher education.
• eLearning opportunities should be connected and coordinated throughout higher education activities including accreditation, curriculum development, data collection, funding, strategic planning, professional development, job descriptions, and more.
3. All digital content and online student services must legally be ADA 508 and W3C compliant.
• Not only is this the law, but we have an obligation to make digital content and services accessible to all students, faculty and staff to accommodate learner differences.
4. We need to invest in college faculty and staff by offering professional-development opportunities focused on using emerging web and mobile technologies and on effective strategies to increase student achievement, especially for underserved populations.
• Students, faculty and staff must be involved in developing these efforts.
5. Providing spaces, funding and opportunities for testing, trying out new technologies and pedagogies leverages innovation throughout the network.
   
   
6. eLearning software and services that support students and faculty must be online and available 24/7/365.
• This does not mean faculty are on call 24/7. The asynchronous nature of online instruction can lead to student (and instructor) expectations that the instructor will always be available for immediate comment; however, we must recognize limitations on the hours that instructors can and should put into interaction.
7. We need to cultivate the culture and practice of using and contributing to open educational resources such as open textbooks, courseware and journals.
   
   
8. Equitable access to common, baseline eLearning and student services technologies and support will require providing these services to all colleges and all students without extra technology fees.
• These tools and services have moved from being “extras” to being a basic part of how colleges do business and how teaching and learning take place.
9. Washington’s colleges and universities should make open sharing of educational resources a high priority.
• Ideally, taxpayer-funded educational resources should be open educational resources. That is, those that paid for the creation of educational content should have unfettered access to it within the parameters of intellectual property rights of the faculty and students.
10. Doing all of this requires focused systemic commitment, a willingness to work with other colleges, and financial resources. Such systemic commitment requires attention to all the elements outlined above.