DATE / CRN
ABOUT THE CHECKLIST
This checklist is online with resources to help you meet each standard in the checklist. This checklist was created using the following resources, which you can also use:
  • Mt. SAC Skills & Pedagogy for Online Teaching (SPOT) course (
  • California’s Online Education Initiative’s Course Design Rubric (
  • Quality Matters Rubric (
The Online Learning Support Center (OLSC): A Mt. SAC Faculty Resource
If you have questions, would like to suggest resources to add to the online checklist pages, or if you’d like assistance in using the checklist or implementing changes as a result of the checklist, please contact the OLSC. We are a dedicated faculty resource and our mission is to help you teach with technology! Here’s where you can find us:
Visit the Online Learning Support Center, Building 6 Room 262,
Website: mtsac.edu/olsc
Instructional Design
Michelle Newhart x5016,
Distance Learning Coordinators
Sandra Weatherilt, x6369,
Carol Impara, X 6112
Other support and accreditation info for Mt. SAC Faculty:
mtsac.edu/olsc/accreditation.html

Note: The Preflight Checklist was created to assist distance learning (DL) faculty in preparing for accreditation review. The OLSC does not know which courses will be reviewed by ACCJC or the exact criteria that will be used for review. For this reason, we cannot offer ironclad guarantees that following the checklist will result in a pass from accreditation reviewers. The Preflight Checklist aligns with DL regulations, best practices, and good instructional design principles. Implementing these recommendations in your course will bring courses into better alignment with accreditation review, and ultimately serve the goal of the regulations, which is to provide a higher quality learning experience for your students.
Off we go! Accreditation is in early Spring 2017!

KEY E exemplary  in good shape  room for improvement ?? question !! action required

CHECK 1: COURSE DESIGN
A. Syllabus
The course syllabus is an important orienting document to students. It should be clearly posted and include the following: /
  1. Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) (To locate SLOs, go to mtsac.edu/instruction/outcomes/sloinfo.html)

  1. Course measurable objectives (To locate, CMOs, go to:

  1. Instructor Contact Information

  1. Policies and Expectations, including accessibility statement, behavior, netiquette, and plagiarism

  1. Course Requirements, such as time and materials needed

  1. Grading Criteria including the instructor’s methods of collecting and returning work are clearly explained

  1. Response time instructor will take for communications and assignment feedback

  1. A clearly organized schedule/calendar

  1. A downloadable/printable version of syllabus is provided.

B. Welcome & Course Orientation
These opening course items should be included and easy to find: /
  1. Professor contact information is posted in a highly visible location in the course main page. Professor has a profile picture.

  1. Welcome Announcement – A detailed introduction and instructions on how to start the course is provided in an announcement.

  1. Orientation activity is provided in the course. It is clearly labeled with instructions on what students need to do to be counted as “present” in the course.

C. Presentation & Organization of Content
This topic pertains to the overall structure and navigation of the course. The content within items will be discussed in other checks. /
  1. Home page – the course has a well-defined and well organized home page that identifies the course and its main elements.

  1. Image or banner at the top of the home page identifies the course and semester. “Online” or “hybrid” is included in the course label.

  1. A tutorial on using the course management system (CMS- aka Moodlerooms) is provided in print, video, or both.

  1. Content is “chunked” into manageable segments that are distinct learning units or modules with clear headings.

  1. Content is presented in the appropriate/ efficient tool or mechanism within the CMS. E.g., links use the URL tool, content uses a content-appropriate tool, etc.)

  1. Learning Objectives are clearly labeled and included in each module.

  1. Navigation is intuitive and content flows in a logical progression

  1. External URL sites and files are set to display to a new browser window to prevent students from accidentally exiting the course.

See resources that support Check 1:
NOTES:

KEY E exemplary  in good shape  room for improvement ?? question !! action required

CHECK 2: REGULAR INTERACTION COLLABORATION
A. Regular & Effective Contact
This item addresses the need to meet R&E contact regulations that distinguish DL from correspondencecourses, largely through creation of a learning community. /
  1. Professor regularly initiates communication with students through announcements, activities, and personalized messaging.

  1. Professor participates or presence is evident in discussion forums or other interactive/collaborative activities.

  1. Professor-to-student contact is evident. Modes of contact may include announcements, individualized assignment feedback, and/or rubrics. If email is used, the instructions, syllabus or announcements identify this as the mode of communication.

  1. Activities are designed to promote collaboration and interaction, reinforce content and learning objectives, and support team building skills. (E.g., Discussion forums support a real substantive discussion among students rather than simply having each student individually answer a question.)

  1. Student-to-student contact is evident. Modes of contact include: discussion forums, group assignments, and/or collaboration

B. Interaction Logistics
This item covers planning regular interaction and communicating clearly. /
  1. Course shows evidence of regularly planned participation/ interaction in the course.

  1. Announcements are sent out regularly during the course.

  1. Announcements are composed in a way that the intent of the message is clearly conveyed to students.

  1. Regularly scheduled assignments/projects promote interactions and collaborations: professor-learner, learner-learner, learner-content.

C. Materials & Instructor Interaction
This item covers interaction when special materials are involved. /
  1. All activities that might create educational records (as defined by FERPA[1]) or that involve regular/effective contact are conducted within district or college supported systems.

  1. If publisher materials or digital tools are used to supplement a course, they are integrated into the CMS rather than sending the student to an outside source in order to meet Mt. SAC authentication requirements regarding single sign-on.

  1. When publisher materials are used, evidence of instructor presence is evident in the form of comments or evaluation within the course.

See resources that support Check 2:
NOTES:

KEY E exemplary  in good shape  room for improvement ?? question !! action required

CHECK 3: LEARNER ENGAGEMENT & ASSESSMENT
A. Learner Engagement This addresses variation in learning activities /
  1. A variety of activities are included in each module

  1. Activities include higher order thinking/scaffolded learning (e.g., analysis, problem-solving, etc.)

  1. Each activity is clearly linked to the module’s learning objective.

B. Assessment Design
This addresses variation of assessment & its connection to other course materials. /
  1. A variety of assessments are offered throughout the course.

  1. Assessments clearly evaluate mastery on learning objectives.

  1. Assessment instructions are specific, with clear references to material to be used, information on word count/length, number of posts/replies required, due dates and amount of credit possible (points), and how to submit. A rubric may also be included.

  1. Instructions for interactive/collaborative activities clearly explain the standard for what constitutes a good and complete answer/reply.

C. Feedback to Students
This item addresses instructor feedback to students. /
  1. Frequent and substantive feedback is provided throughout the course. This includes individual feedback on assignments and discussions, but it can also include prepared feedback, rubrics, quizzes, news items, and release conditions.

  1. Comments are provided as feedback in the gradebook. If feedback is given in email, use announcements to notify students that individual feedback is available and where they can find it. This allows accreditors to see evidence that individual feedback was provided.

See resources that support Check 3:
NOTES:

KEY E exemplary  in good shape  room for improvement ?? question !! action required

CHECK 4: LEARNER SUPPORT
A. Supplemental Software/ Technical Accessibility
This item checks that support to learners is provided for use of technology and software. /
  1. Clear explanations of required software or materials options including any additional costs are provided within the course.

  1. Required software is listed with links to where it can be captured and installed. (E.g., Adobe Acrobat Reader link.)

  1. If publisher materials are required, instructions on how to register and navigate this platform are provided in the CMS.

  1. Links for software or publisher materials are located within the course near the materials where learners will use them.

  1. Only software supported by Mt. SAC is used in the course. Instructor includes information for students on where they can obtain help (I.e. Moodlerooms support, NetTutor, Proctorio).

  1. Links to the institution’s student services are clearly labeled and easy to find (Mt. SAC’s default course shell provides a block listing these resources).

B. Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
This item checks that content meets federal accessibility standards. /
  1. Appropriate color contrast is used and color is not the only too used to indicate meaning or differentiate content.

  1. Images have alternate descriptions (alt text).

  1. All videos are accurately closed captioned.

  1. All other types of non-text communications offer an alternate media accommodation (e.g., the professor provides a transcript with description as an alternative media accommodation for an animation).

See resources that support Check 4:
NOTES:

End Check

[1] The Family Education Records Privacy Act.