Distance Education Courses

With the growth and rapid speed of the Internet and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, web-based courses have increased steadily in number. The nature of web-based courses varies with the needs of the instructor and students. In some cases, the instructor places 100% of the course on the web site and the students can complete the course work at their own convenience.

In other courses, the instructor may require students to meet at a given time in a chat room intended specifically to provide interaction between students and the instructor. Web-based instruction may indeed be a component of a traditional course(face-to-face), teleconference or interactive video instruction. In some instances, students will be required to come to the learning center for the opening session and to take one or more examinations.

Classifying Courses

ICDE policy requires that all courses in which 80% or more of the class meetings are replaced by distance education be identified as a distance education course. These courses are placed in the semester schedule according to the designation. It is important to note that should circumstances prevent the delivery of a distance education course after it has been placed in the schedule, the course must be rescheduled, and students notified in accordance with policies and procedures that are outlined in this document.

Virtually any discipline area can adapt some traditional courses for delivery via the Internet. Numerous examples exist in areas such as business, education, humanities, computer science and informatics. Courses that include field practice, internship and clinical experiences, classroom experience (teaching practice) and laboratories can be augmented by distance education.

Course Offerings

Courses delivered via distance education shall be regular GCTU academic department courses approved through the usual curriculum approval from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC). There shall be no distinction in quality or standards of excellence between courses offered through distance education and those offered on campus. Courses offered via distance education shall have the same rigor and expected outcomes as on-campus offerings. Distance education courses shall carry the same curriculum prerequisites as traditional courses.

Course Approvals

All online courses must be approved by the appropriate office prior to the course offering. All faculty teaching online must successfully complete the online certification.

Course Evaluation and Maintenance

Distance education course offerings shall be evaluated according to the course evaluation procedures in effect for on-campus courses. Additional items to be evaluated shall include the effectiveness and efficiency of delivery systems, academic resources, student services, and access to faculty. Records of evaluations and the analyses of the evaluations must be kept on file, as well as documentation of the proactive use of the results of the evaluations in the enhancement of course offerings.

Procedures for Scheduling Distance Education Courses

Proposals for the development and delivery of distance education courses will follow the same procedures and abide by the same policies as traditional courses. Departments should evaluate the distance education course proposals for appropriateness and only proposals demonstrating comparable content to on-campus courses and sufficient rigor should be approved for delivery via distance education. Proposals for all new courses must include the following information and be forwarded to the appropriate office and/or committee for review and approval (ICDE):

Justification for the proposed distance education course.
A full syllabus (in the same format as for a traditional course) outlining the topics to be covered in the course and how contact hours will be addressed.
A copy of the syllabus/course module.
The delivery method to be used (as specified according to the module structure of all courses)
Assessment Method. A description of assessment methods (including pre-assessment of student capability to succeed in the distance education course) and how those methods will be implemented (e.g., papers submitted via email, tests given online, etc.) should be included.
Interaction methods. The course syllabus (course module) will describe how faculty will interact with students and how students will interact with each other.
Sources of course materials (e.g., developed modules, textbook publishers, e-journals, etc.). Course materials will be listed on the course syllabus and, when needed, a description of them will be provided.
Proposed class size with rationale. The minimum course capacity is dictated by the University wide policy. Best practices recommended in online course enrollment is a maximum class size of 75 and a minimum class size of 15 students. Department specification, faculty resources, and student demand may require exceptions to the norm.
To encourage high quality course offerings, proposals for new distance education courses and distance education courses with a change in course delivery and/or change in instructor must be approved in the semester prior to the course being taught.
Distance education course offerings shall be evaluated according to the course evaluation procedures in effect for on-campus courses.
Additional items to be evaluated shall include the effectiveness and efficiency of delivery systems, academic resources, student services, and access to faculty.
Records of evaluations and the analyses of the evaluations must be kept on file within the Office of Academic Affairs of ICDE as well as documentation of the proactive use of the results of the evaluations in the enhancement of course offerings.
To encourage high quality course offerings, proposals for new distance education courses and distance education courses with a change in course delivery and/or change in instructor must be approved in the semester prior to the semester of course delivery to allow for sufficient instructor training and course development for placement on the web.
Once the course has been approved at the academic board it should then be submitted to the Deputy Registrar’s Office (ICDE) to be placed on the schedule.

Accessibility

A few accessibility issues require accommodation in the design and implementation of distance education courses for special needs students. Resources shall be made available at ICDE to assist faculty with appropriate design strategies.

Institutional Accommodation

Unless otherwise stated, all GCTU and ICDE policies, standards, and guidelines for on- and off-campus instructions apply to distance education. All academic Faculties will have an opportunity to participate in providing distance education programs and are encouraged to provide distance education wherever there is a need.

Current programmatic and administrative procedures exist to accommodate persons who may not have easy access to traditional campus-based study at GCTU due to constraints of time, distance, disability, and personal and professional issues.

All programs, services, and activities offered by GCTU via the distance education administered by ICDE must be accessible to and usable by persons with documented disabilities who have met the technical and academic standards for admission. Online courses are required to be GTEC compliant.