Modes of Content and Delivery

Definition of the Distance Education

Title 5 Links to an external site. defines distance education (DE) to mean instruction in which the instructor and student are separated by time and/or distance and interact through the assistance of technology. In addition, instruction provided as distance education is subject to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. § 12100 et seq.) and section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. § 794d).

Course Type Descriptions

There are many ways faculty teach courses online - and our list of options expands as technology changes and improves. Faculty and Deans should work with your distance education team as more courses and programs are adapted to an online modality.

The following definitions are pulled from the course type descriptions Links to an external site.in SMCCCD's WebSchedule, the DE Modality Definitions Links to an external site. and the DE Modality document Links to an external site. created by the District Teaching and Learning (DTL) Committee.

Guidance for Camera Use on Zoom Links to an external site.

Face-to-Face Course

All regular and substantive instruction is done in person, in the classroom.
Web-Enhanced Component: Homework hours, in the form of preparing for class, discussions, etc., can be completed on the LMS (e.g. Canvas) as needed. This is not meant for contact hours.
This mode of delivery does not require separate approval by the Curriculum Committee.

Online Asynchronous

FULLY ONLINE (FO)

Instruction involves regular and substantive online interaction that takes place asynchronously and is supported by online materials and activities delivered through the college's learning management system, and through the use of other required materials. All approved instructional contact hours, including online proctored assessments, are delivered through these online interactions. No in-person assessments are required.

Online Partially Synchronous

FULLY ONLINE (FO)

Instruction involves regular and substantive online interaction that takes place synchronously and is supported by online materials and activities delivered through the college's learning management system, and through the use of other required materials. All approved instructional contact hours, including online proctored assessments, are delivered through these online interactions. No in-person assessments are required.

Intentionally planned and required online class meetings, which are posted in the schedule, catalog, and syllabus
Only part of the regular and effective contact is done via the synchronous meetings
Contact hours: Consistent, pre-scheduled time throughout the semester, clearly identifying the total amount of hours, day/s, and location/s.
Online meetings should be held in District-approved platforms so as to be FERPA-compliant.

Online Fully Synchronous

FULLY ONLINE (FO)

Intentionally planned and required online class meetings, which are posted in the schedule, catalog, and syllabus
Contact hours: Consistent, pre-scheduled time throughout the semester, clearly identifying the total amount of hours, day/s, and location/s.
Online meetings should be held on District-approved platforms so as to be FERPA-compliant.

Hybrid Course

Curriculum is designed intentionally and thoughtfully to integrate F2F and online learning experiences. F2F time is reduced, but not eliminated, with the balance of learning being facilitated asynchronously.

Contact Hours: Hours that a student receives the active instruction; 30-70% of the normal contact hours are now done online (and not F2F)

For planning purposes, consider a set selection of percentages for F2F/online contact hours: 30/70, 40/60, 50/50, 60/40, or 70/30

Face-to-face: Instructors must post pre-scheduled class meeting times and location on WebSchedule and in their course syllabus. The F2F portion is meant to be ‘mandatory’ for students.

Online meetings should be held on District-approved platforms so as to be FERPA-compliant

Asynchronous Component: Work may include assignments done on the LMS and/or related sites.
Significant Assessments: Instructors must post whether required exams are online or in-person in WebSchedule and the course syllabus.
Lectures: Could be conducted in-person or asynchronously, as long as the contact hours are maintained.
Contact hours: Consistent, pre-scheduled time throughout the semester, clearly identifying the total amount of hours, day/s, and location/s.

Multimodal Course

The curriculum is designed intentionally and thoughtfully to provide choice to learners in their mode of engagement with the learning.

Students choose between attending/participating in-person or online at the beginning of the semester and stick in that modality throughout the semester. Online participation is available in synchronous (e.g., Zoom meeting) or asynchronous (e.g., Zoom or Panopto recording) modes; sometimes both and sometimes in only one online mode. Faculty are expected to be teaching from the classroom.

Contact Hours: Consistent, pre-scheduled time throughout the semester, clearly identifying the total amount of hours, day/s, and location/s.

Students should not be required to attend live class meetings, whether online or in-person; participation should be measured based on other criteria.
Online meetings should be held on District-approved platforms so as to be FERPA-compliant.
Synchronous meetings should be recorded.

Synchronous Students: Those students who are participating synchronously will complete course contact hours through the class meetings, in-person, or virtually.
Asynchronous Students: Those students who are participating asynchronously will complete course contact hours through watching recorded lectures and tutorials, completing labs, readings, discussions and activities, all to be done on the LMS and/or related sites.
Assessments: All significant assessments (i.e., exams, projects, midterms) should be able to be made available in all modalities when needed.

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