eLearning Faculty Handbook 

Development

Courses that are proposed to be offered in a eLearning format must already exist as a traditional course and have gone through the Curriculum Development and Review Committee's procedures for proposing a new course. Any faculty proposing to develop a new online or blended course must have completed their eLearning certification.

 The steps listed below are required for the development of online and blended courses: 

1) Faculty or Department Chair identifies potential course(s) to be developed for eLearning delivery.
 

2) Faculty completes the SCF eLearning Course Design Proposal and has it approved by Program Chair, Dean, and Director of eLearning.
 

3) Upon receiving and approving the proposed course, Director of eLearning or designee meets with Faculty to coordinate an Instructional Design Plan using the Course Modification Action Plan. The  eLearning Department will assist in the development of course materials as needed.
 

4) Faculty develops the course and has it reviewed and certified by the eLearning Department as meeting the standards in the SCF eLearning Course Evaluation.
 

5) Director of eLearning notifies Department Chair and Dean of course development completion.
 

6) Department Chair or Director of eLearning submits the course to Curriculum Development and Review Committee (for notification purposes only). 

Faculty Web Pages

Note: Faculty who teach eLearning courses are required to a have an SCF web page.

Procedure for Assigning Web Pages to Instructors:
 

1) Instructor places a help request for Web Development at helpdesk@scf.edu (please include your full name, department, and title).
 

2) Web Development creates a folder and account for the instructor on the web server (access information will be sent via email).
 

3) Web Development creates a template page for the instructor. When the instructor is ready, Web Development Team shows her/him how to access it via FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
 

4) Instructor adds content to the template and notifies Web Development when it is ready to be put online.
 

5) Web Development Team adds instructor's name to email list of Faculty on the web (Faculty receive information via email regarding website changes, updates, new policy, etc.).

Recommendations

1) Do NOT rename your directory on the web server. Faculty directories on the web server are labeled with your login name, first six letters of your last name plus the first letter of your first name.
 

2) You can (and should) create folders within your main folder to organize your website files.
 

3) Do NOT use long file names with spaces and special characters. The only special character that should be used is the underscore.
 

4) Save (Ctrl + S) often so that you don't lose your work.
 

5) If inserting multimedia files on a web page, make sure they are an appropriate web file format (JPEG or GIF for graphics; AVI or MPEG for sound; Quick Time or Flash for movies).
 

6) Template graphics are not visible when editing the web page. When you try to preview your page for the first time, ignore all the error messages referring to graphics and click OK.

Refer to SCF's procedure [2.60.01] "Computer Hardware, Software, Security, Access and Electronic Communications" for college policy on computing use.

Computer Hardware & Software Requirements

Note: These specifications are the required minimum for elearning classes in general.

eLearning faculty typically work on their computers for hours at a time. Faculty should keep their own comfort and health in mind when selecting a monitor, keyboard, mouse, desk, and chair.

PC Hardware

CPU: Pentium 4- 266 MHz or greater, AMD K6, or comparable processor are recommended.

Memory: 256 MB RAM (512 MB Recommended).

Hard Drive: At least 20 GB.

CD-ROM Drive : 24x or higher; DVD may be required for some courses.

Connections: Cable or DSL connections recommended,
                   (Dial-up not recommended; however, 56k modem may be used).

Graphics Card: Must support 1024x768 resolution.

Macintosh Hardware

CPU: G4 or higher.

Memory: 256 MB RAM (512 MB Recommended).

Hard Drive: At least 20 GB of free space .

CD-ROM Drive : 24x or higher. DVD may be required for some courses.

Connections: Cable or DSL connections recommended,
                    (Dial-up not recommended; however, 56k modem may be used).

Graphics Card: Must support 1024x768 resolution.

Software Requirements

Email: The use of SCF email is required. Should be able to send, receive, and organize email.

Office Software: Microsoft 2000 or higher, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access

PC:

Operating system: Windows 2000 Professional,
Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional Edition.Vista

Web Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.1 or higher, Firefox 2,x,

Plug Ins

Mac:

Operating System: OS X or higher

Web Browser: Firefox 2.0,

Plug Ins

Checklist for eLearning Course Web Pages

In order to comply with SACS guidelines the elearning course must contain the following elements:

____ Course performance standards

____ Course syllabus and assignments

____ Statement of technology required for the course 
          (e.g. internet access, e-mail account, any required software, 
          level of computer skills)

____ Provision for timely and appropriate interaction between instructor and student

____ Provision for timely and appropriate interaction among students

____ Information on how to access assistance with using the required technology

____ Information on how to access library resources 
          (or link to eLearning Library Resources)

____ Information on how to access information provided by Student Services 
          (or link to Student Services:  http://www.scf.edu/StudentServices/default.asp).