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This chapter contains a review of EPCC's educational service delivery and student performance in six sections.

A. Student Performance
B. Program Offerings and New Program Development
C. Developmental Education
D. Articulation
E. Literacy and English as a Second Language
F. Distance Education

DISTANCE EDUCATION

Electronic and telecommunications technologies offer tremendous potential for expanding educational accessibility. For example, distance education:

  • reaches students who cannot attend classes because of distance, transportation limitations, and scheduling problems;
  • sends instruction to people in rural and other under-served areas of the college service district;
  • gives students access through a computer terminal to the latest information on a particular topic or issue from around the world;
  • permits students at multi-sites to study with a professor and students at a remote site.

Time pressures on today's students are creating a demand for asynchronous courses. Courses where instructors and students interact at the same time are synchronous. Asynchronous courses don't require the students and teacher interact at the same time. Traditional courses and video conferencing are synchronous, while TV (live or videocassette) or Internet-delivered courses may be either. Asynchronous courses allow students to access their course materials at a time that is convenient for them.

Community colleges, which are the largest providers of instructional telecommunications in Texas, developed a plan in 1996 to establish the Virtual College of Texas (VCT). VCT's mission is to provide all Texans access to quality instruction and support wherever they may live, regardless of geographic, distance, or time constraints. While VCT is not a separate, degree-granting entity, citizens within any community college service delivery area have access to distance learning courses and programs offered by all VCT-member colleges. Beginning in the fall 1998, VCT began enrolling students and delivering instruction through telecourses and the Internet.

FINDING

In 1994, EPCC received a $1.75 million Title III grant from the U. S. Department of Education to set up an interactive video conferencing network (IVC) to reach the outlying areas of El Paso County and the Upper Rio Grande Valley. The project is now in its fifth year and is providing credit courses to almost 800 students as far away as Fort Hancock and Dell City, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico. The college installed a dial-up system in spring 1998, through which interactive video conferencing can be conducted anywhere in the world. The college has completed seven high tech distance learning classrooms at the Valle Verde, Rio Grande, and Transmountain campuses as well as the Northwest Center and Mission Del Paso.

Through its Distance Learning Network, EPCC's distance education program reaches those students who cannot attend classes. Student access also is provided to distance education programs and classes through the network by The University of Texas at El Paso, Texas A&M, New Mexico State University, and other higher education institutions throughout the country. Ultimately, the college will be connected to at least 10 external educational outreach sites and five regional, state, and national sites through its Distance Learning Network.

Exhibit 2-22 presents a summary of instructional activities conducted by EPCC's Distance Learning Network.

Exhibit 2-22
Instructional Activities Conducted by the Distance learning Network
El Paso Community College
Instructional Activity Description
Interactive Video Conferencing (IVC) An interactive television network in its fifth year, providing credit courses to almost 800 students as far away as Fort Hancock and Dell City, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico.
Instructional Television (ITV) Instruction using telecourses is offered on KCOS TV (Channel 13) and on Paragon Cable (Channel 14), with videotapes of courses also available for viewing in campus libraries during regular library hours. EPCC offered 16 ITV courses in fall 1999, with 338 students enrolled.
STARLINK Teleconferencing A statewide network that produces and distributes programming to benefit diverse Texas audiences. EPCC broadcasts teleconferences once or twice a month with an average of 15 participants per teleconference. Topics presented include Health Professions, Student Retention-Make it a Reality, and Ethics for counselors and Health Care Professionals.
Credit for Learning by Experience (CLEO) A program designed to recognize the academic value of learning gained from an individual's experience outside college classrooms. CLEO students produce an Experimental Learning Portfolio reflecting learning which has resulted from work experience, employment training, non-credit seminars, volunteer work, military service, or intensive self-directed study and is turned into college credit through this program. EPCC has 15 students enrolled in this three-hour course for Fall 1999.
Instructional Television Fixed Signal (ITFS) Presented from an ITFS classroom at the Valle Verde campus, ITFS offers courses via one-way video and two-way audio. EPCC currently offers courses to outreach sites in and around the El Paso area.
On-Line Internet Courses (IN) Credit classes are offered via the Internet as part of the Virtual College of Texas. EPCC offered seven courses in fall 1999 with 140 students enrolled.
Source: EPCC District Learning Network brochure and Title III Office, August 1999.

Instructional Video Conferencing (IVC) allows students to attend classes at campuses near their homes or businesses, without the need to travel to a distant site. Using two-way audio-video technology, students can attend classes with students at other sites. Classes are offered simultaneously and interactively between the college facilities and with outlying areas. The fall 1999 course schedule lists six courses and 22 sections offered via two-way audio/video technology: Accounting (three courses), Fire Technology, U.S. History, and Pharmacology.

Instructional Television (ITV) courses combine televised lessons and related reading assignments in the comfort of one's own home or office with optional on-campus review opportunities, discussions and examinations. EPCC has been offering ITV courses on KCOS TV Channel 13 (PBS) and on Paragon Cable Channel 14. Videocassette tapes are also available for viewing in the campus libraries during regular library hours. Television courses are the equivalent of on-campus counterparts, and normally are transferable to UTEP and most other four-year colleges and universities. Sixteen courses are offered for the fall of 1999, including anthropology, economics, math, English, physical science, reading, speech, history, accounting, psychology, sociology, and marketing.

The Instructional Television Fixed Signal (ITFS) transmitter can broadcast courses via one-way video and two-way audio. The ITFS transmitter has an over the air range of approximately 30 miles, which covers most of the El Paso city area. EPCC recently completed an ITFS classroom at the Valle Verde campus and is offering IVC courses to the closer outreach sites in and around the El Paso area.

EPCC began offering Internet (IN) on-line credit courses as part of the virtual college in fall 1998. Students access their course materials over an Internet connection. Faculty post materials, instructions, readings, and assignments "on-line" for students to complete on their own or in groups. Faculty is available via e-mail or telephone for questions. Faculty electronically moderate on-line discussions. Students may also interact with each other online. Nine course in accounting, computers, communications, economics, political science, and psychology are offered in the fall of 1999.

Students may enroll in IVC, ITV, and IN courses through telephone registration or late registration at any campus. Telecourse students are required to attend an orientation session during the first week of school. The Distance Learning office provides support services to faculty and students participating in distance education. The Office of Off-Campus and Recruitment provides outreach to the various sites and coordinates the student support services such as admissions, testing, registration, and textbook delivery. To date, over 50 faculty have been trained or taught in distance learning and approximately 1,100 students have enrolled in distance learning classes.

COMMENDATION

EPCC's Distance Learning Network uses instructional television, interactive video conferencing, and Internet technology to deliver college courses to students at remote locations throughout El Paso and the Upper Rio Grand Valley.

FINDING

EPCC has established the infrastructure necessary to enable it to deliver electronic instruction and the college is working in partnership with "eCollege.com," an online learning solutions company, to put its courses online to meet the estimated demand for distance learning solutions. Faculty are paid release time for distance learning training and for curriculum development to modify their traditional courses for distance learning. Exhibit 2-23 presents a sample listing of Interactive Video Conferencing, ITV, and on-line Internet courses offered through EPCC's Distance Learning Network.

Exhibit 2-23
El Paso Community College
Distance Learning Network Sample of Courses Offered
Fall 1999
Distance Learning Medium Sample Course Offerings
Interactive Video Conferencing Courses
  • Federal Income Tax for Partnerships and Corporations
  • Cost Accounting and Lab
  • Internal Control and Auditing
  • Fire Strategies and Tactics II
  • History of the U. S. to 1865
  • Pharmacology
Instructional Television Courses
  • Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology
  • Introduction to Archaeology
  • Principles of Management
  • Growth and Development of a Child
  • Principles of Economics I & II
  • Expository English Composition
  • U. S. History to 1865
  • U. S. History after 1865
  • Introduction to Mass Communications
  • Marketing
  • American Government and Politics
  • State and Local Government
  • Introduction to Psychology
  • Introduction to Sociology
  • Sociology of Marriage and Family
On-Line/Internet Courses
  • Principles of Accounting II and Lab
  • Introduction to Computers and Applications and Lab
  • Business and Professional Communications
  • Principles of Economics I
  • Legal Aspects of Fire Protection
  • American Government and Politics
  • Introduction to Psychology
Source: EPCC Fall 1999 Course Schedule.

At this time, course offerings are limited and are restricted to single courses rather than to degree or certificate programs. The distance learning program may be improved by offering complete certificate and degree programs via distance education instead of single course offerings.

Recommendation 13:

Expand distance education by offering certificate and degree programs.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE <
1.The president directs the associate vice president for Instructional Services to convene a task force to identify certificate and degree plans that should be available for completion in distance education formats. January 2000
2.The task force develops recommendations, identifies grant funding, which it will pursue to help support the effort. January-April 2000
3.The task force forwards its recommendations to the administration to the president who submits to the board for approval. May 2000

FISCAL IMPACT

This recommendation could be accomplished with existing resources.

FINDING

Most of the courses offered through distance learning are counterparts to courses in the regular program. The performance expectations and available support for traditional classroom courses are reasonably clear and can be explained at the start of the class. With the increase in program offerings though instructional telecommunications, however, EPCC will need to ensure that performance expectations and available support services are clearly communicated to students using the new technology. Some traditional support services like learning labs may be replaced with computer based support, such as chat rooms and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) sites.

The MASIE Center, an international think tank located in New York, is dedicated to exploring the intersection of learning and technology. The center recommends colleges adopt a Learning Support Agreement (LSA) for distance learning courses. The LSA is a short statement detailing the learning support services that students can expect to receive when they sign up for an electronic training experience. A classroom seminar may have a very different LSA than an online course. A short web based tutorial may have a different LSA than a three-month distance learning certification program. Yet, each experience has a learner and a provider who can benefit from clarity about roles and expectations.

Here are some of the categories the MASIE center suggests could be covered by a LSA:

  • Learning Coaching: When learners need assistance in processing the information from the class, what services are available? Do they go to the instructor or to a tutoring center and what will they receive?
  • Technology Assistance: When learners have difficulty using learning technology, to whom should they turn? Is it the sole responsibility of the learner or does the college have resources to help?
  • Response Time: When the learner has a question in a small seminar, expectation for response time is short, a few minutes at the most. When the learner has a question in a larger lecture class, response time expectations are recalibrated. What type of turn-around time for response services should a learner expect in a distance learning experience? (Minutes, Hours, or Days?)
  • Mode of Learning Support: What are the delivery modes for learning support? Is everything contained in the class Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)? Are there other options besides email for communication? Does the learner have the liberty to talk to the instructor?
  • Collaborative Expectations: What is the expectation for peer support during the learning event? Is the learner expected to assist other people taking the course, or is that an optional activity?
  • Remediation Options: If the learner needs to take a class or module again, is that an option? Are there asynchronous versions of synchronous classes available for viewing and repeat exposures? Can the learner view modules from earlier programs that may assist with review of pre-requisites?
  • Documentation Services: What will the college document about the learner's participation in the program?
  • Duration of Access: How long will the learner have access to the content from the class? Does it "linger" for years, much as a college textbook, or does it evaporate at a specified time?

The MASIE Center advocates LSAs as an added value for both the learner and the marketplace.

The LSA is needed to help all of the players understand the expectations of online and other technology delivered programs. LSAs also will help the marketplace discern value when looking at a vast number of similar programs. Buyers can more clearly value the component elements of a program when they can understand the expectations and the support services assurances of the course. With EPCC exploring the possibility of offering certificate and degree programs through distance education, it would greatly benefit by developing policies and putting in place the necessary faculty and student support systems.

Recommendation 14:

Develop clear policies, goals for student learning, and support services for both faculty and students for distance education courses.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE
1.The associate vice president for Instructional Services directs deans to work with faculty delivering distance education courses to develop policies, clear expectation statements and support services necessary for all distance education courses. January 2000
2.The associate vice president for Instructional Services forwards the draft policy on distance education developed by the deans and faculty to the Board of Trustees through the president for approval. March 2000
3.Faculty incorporates expectation statements and support services into distance education course outlines. April - June 2000
4.Students are provided with expectation statements and support services assurances in a way that is readily accessible. June 2000 Ongoing

FISCAL IMPACT

This recommendation could be accomplished with existing resources.