This report covers the responses House Higher Education received for their RFI on Charge #4, relating to evaluations of the 60X30TX plan. The RFI for this charge can be found here and a complete list of responses can be found here.

 

The HillCo report below is a summary of information intended to give you an overview and highlight of the various topics included in the responses. This report does not cover the entirety of each response, but aims to provide an overview of the testimony submitted.

 

Dr. Paula Short, University of Houston

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Access to software, hardware, reliable internet
  • Financial and health concerns, including lack of child and elderly care
  • 75% of face to face classes require some online component and classes that do not have an online course shell are given one by the university to use in emergencies
  • Offers tutorials, conferences, and grants for professors on utilizing online resources for classes
  • Outlines the software programs and trainings for professors that they have adopted
  • Developed laptop loaner program and COVID-19 website and call center for tech support
  • Provides feedback from surveyed students on effectiveness of online learning

What information and data are available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Only 3 of 30 online degree programs are totally online, successful in offering students credentials that result in higher pay and responsibility in career

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Could have benefited from mandatory training on teaching/office administration/advising for all faculty and faster progression with online teaching platforms

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Exam integrity will require creativity in software use for proctoring and plagiarism
  • Faculty instructional training and measures of instructional quality will need to be heightened along with academic and career advising for students

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Yes, introduction to the convenience of online courses, especially for working/commuting students will result in increase of demand

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Students who do not live on campus need secure high-speed internet and financial aid to help pay for these services and associated technology

What sort of differences are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • Outlines the definitions of online training and importance/requirement of hands-on learning in nursing
  • In order to maintain accreditation and create competitive graduates, distance learning has to meet the same standards as face to face

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • Adopted platforms undergo security screening by university and guarantee FERPA compliance; faculty and staff also have required yearly FERPA training

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • SB 810 grants provide opportunities for faculty to develop courses using only OER
  • State repository from HB 3652 will make OER more available, improve quality of higher ed in Texas, and leads to student savings
  • Established an incentive program for faculty that adopt OER for their courses
  • The first two years of incentive program resulted in $863,902 in student savings, 2020-2021 academic year is projected to add $426,556 to those savings

 

Texas A&M University System

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Economically disadvantaged students lack adequate internet and technology access
  • Thousands of laptops and hot spots have been checked out, but the need exceeds the means

What information and data are available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • All 11 universities offer complete degree programs online and there are individual online courses to supplement other degrees, online compromises 16% of their enrollment

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Students perform well in the online and hybrid environment
  • Provides statistics on comparisons between online and in-person drop/fail/withdraw rates; rates of DFW were higher in online courses, but the difference was minimal

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Learning Management Services are expensive, keeping up with ADA for hearing impaired, variations in learning styles create struggle

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Monitoring for Fall 2020, too early to tell

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Legislature could provide incentive for private sector

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • Clinical programs do not have online component

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • LMS are password protected and utilize DUO (multi-authentication)

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • No measurable impact yet

 

Western Governor’s University

Describe how accreditation works for online programs in general and WGU specific.

  • Regionally accredited by NWCCU

What are WGU’s outcomes for students and employers?

  • 2019 survey of graduates concluded 76% said majority of competencies related to work, 95% were employed, 88% were employed in their degree field, 83% were employed full time
  • Outlines student return on investment, employer satisfaction with graduates, debt averages, and Responsible Borrowing Initiative to decrease student debt
  • 6-year graduation rate for undergrad: 49%, 4-year graduation rate: 43%, goal is to achieve 65% for 6-year graduation rate by 2025

How does WGU Texas contribute to the supply of high-need professions (nurses, teachers, other)?

  • Provides list of programs that relate to these specialties; planning on launching micro-credentials in IT, healthcare, and business in 2021

What are WGU’s recommendations for addressing the digital divide?

  • Expanding access to reliable broadband for students in need
  • Increase digital literacy skills for students through expanded curriculum

 

Stacey Napier, The University of Texas System

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Broadband and technology access for students and some faculty; UT system provided hot spots and loaned technology for students
  • Low technology readiness and lack of skills for online teaching; UT System increased professional development and training for teaching online
  • Created information dashboard on digital divide for UT System students

What information and data are available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Course completion rates are comparable for online, hybrid, and face-to-face courses
  • Data shows graduates of fully online degree programs do just as well as graduates of in-person programs

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Visual and performing arts and lab sciences are challenging to teach online
  • Suggest exploring virtual reality and other next generation technologies to expand access to hands-on courses
  • Take-home lab kits were a creative solution, but proved difficult to distribute and costly

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Significant investment in university technologies is needed
  • Institutions establish specific qualifications and expectations to ensure online, hybrid, and web-augmented courses meet standards
  • Additional funds are needed to support live captioning, asynchronous closed captions, and overall training and awareness of accessible content

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Expect to see an expansion of hybrid-flexible model, where individual students can choose online or in-person instruction

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Legislature could incentivize internet service providers to extend Keep Americans Connected pledge through duration of the pandemic
  • Suggest considering funding broadband adoption efforts

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • No difference between online and on-campus nursing programs, all programs include a clinical component
  • Both courses were challenged by COVID-19 and show need for simulation and VR technology

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • All technologies comply with FERPA, but concerns about data-sharing and transparency around data collection used in advertising and marketing

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Availability and accessibility of quality resources has proven useful to students, especially lower socio-economic bracket
  • OER proved very useful in Spring 2020 with quick shift to online and loss of library resources
  • Further data on OER is being collected and will be reported on soon

 

Suzanne Shipley, Midwestern State University

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Meeting and complying with state-to-state regulations for degrees and certifications with online learning; staff member devoted to the compliance through NC-SARA agreement
  • Lack of broadband internet; state action is required
  • Pedagogy of online learning for students and faculty to adjust; created and provided educational materials for faculty who teach online

What information and data are available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Meta-analysis of data for online vs. in-person learning indicates there is no statistical difference between the two
  • Comparative data is difficult because most classes are in-person or online, not both

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • There is a significant need for statewide broadband internet access
  • Being forced to teach online has led to some innovations in courses that were previously thought to be only teachable in-person

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Students reported access to reliable internet and technology as struggles as well as wanting more interactive video/audio lectures rather than just materials posted online
  • Staff reported access to appropriate technology and training in different online platforms were problematic for them
  • Faculty reported struggling with appropriately accommodating students with audio and visual impairments and not having adequate devices or training for online learning

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • May lead to expanded demand as students adjust and more courses and degrees offer these options
  • There will still be barriers for students with insufficient resources

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Readily accessible subsidies for emergency use of broadband from available carriers
  • Subsidizing LTE hotspots

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • There are technologies that allow for many skills to be taught online, but official position is that lack of in-person clinicals will cause an acceptable decline in quality

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • Cannot speak to this because they do not use proprietary online curriculum packages
  • They use Desire 2 Learn which provides adequate privacy and security of student information

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Adoption of OER continues at a slow rate and the impact appears modest
  • As more grants are offered to incentivize development and adoption, rates will increase

 

Texas Association of Community Colleges

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Access to technology and broadband internet
  • Access to adequate learning environment free from having to care for other people in the home or completing courses while working from home as well
  • Software compatibility
  • Steep learning curve for faculty that has never taught online; colleges provided professional development to faculty
  • Course sharing between institutions through DigiTex has helped expand course options for students

What information and data are available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Students and faculty need support on learning how to use online tools
  • These tools have proven to be useful even as some courses go back to in-person

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Studies show working adults considering going back to school prefer online access

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • DigiTex recently conducted first statewide survey on OER, responses were from 100 institutions
  • Survey indicated faculty OER training and incentive programs are priority, two-year institutions are primary developers of full OER-based programs
  • The financial impacts thus far are nascent, but promising
  • Lack of faculty awareness and conflicts with existing priorities are largest barriers to OER adoption

How does the impact of COVID-19 affect the small and rural community college’s ability to offer online classes and make other changes to adapt to the pandemic?

  • DigiTex has focused on leveraging funds for small and rural community colleges being supported by course and resource sharing from other institutions and this has proved largely successful

 

The University of Texas at Arlington

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Obtaining authorization to offer online programs outside of Texas can be a barrier for students located in other states
  • Participates with NC-SARA to maintain the authority to deliver online instruction to those students
  • 88% of faculty had the technology to teach at home, but many students did not
  • Inequities in access to internet were very apparent; UTA provided hot spots but demand was higher than supply

What information and data are available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • UTA has done research on the success of their online programs for years and includes links to other research institutions that they have partnered with that collect this data in their response

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Many faculty and students do not have access to adequate technology and software for online learning
  • Lack of consistent internet access was problematic for accessing online courses and exams
  • Recording of class materials should be encouraged to help students with responsibilities outside of school
  • Faculty need many different options for online teaching

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Uses Quality Measures, nationally recognized, standards-based program that ensures quality of online courses and encourages professors to participate
  • Instructional designers help faculty with developing their online courses

Post pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Demand will likely increase for more flexible class options and faculty and staff are preparing for this expansion

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • No difference between quality in online and on-campus nursing programs
  • They both require clinical component, so have had equal need for some development of simulation and virtual simulation during COVID-19

 

Amanda Rockow, University of Texas at Dallas

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Obvious preference for residential college experience
  • Unreliable internet connectivity and lack of access to technology
  • Tried to provide technology resources to students and faculty, but national backorders and limited resources made it difficult
  • Entered inter-institutional software contracts and purchasing
  • Struggles with timely access to faculty or peers
  • Also issues of accreditation guidelines and not all requests for state status exceptions have been answered
  • Access for international students has been another question for federal regulations
  • Including asynchronous options for every course for students in different time zones and work schedules

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Have not traditionally offered very many courses online, so long-term success is difficult to assess at this point
  • Courses that have been online for years are comparable in success outcomes to in-person courses

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Collaboration and communication across institutions is imperative
  • Revealed and heightened structural problems that have made higher education more inaccessible
  • University leadership allowed professors and students a lot of freedom to adjust as they saw fit and found that this created better buy-in for required policies

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Students changes in usual schedules caused issues for coursework completion and disruption
  • Many lacked access to appropriate technology and internet
  • Some faculty lacked technology knowledge and understanding, but training from UTD helped mitigate this shortcoming

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Capacity-yes; demand-possibly, largely based on students and their discipline
  • May also see an inverse shift, after being forced into online learning, students may prefer face-to-face interactions

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Follow examples of other states, focusing on internet deserts in both urban and rural communities
  • Increase cell tower infrastructure, education campaigns on use of hotspot
  • Consider statewide contracts for some licensing for software/needed technologies

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • All software used for classes go through review including FERPA addendums
  • Suggests providing resources to institutions to develop “privacy officer” roles

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Too early to tell

 

The University of Texas at Austin

What are existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Initially access to tech and fast internet; UTA Student Emergency Services fund offset some of this
  • Labs and performance classes cannot be replicated remotely, care is being taken to conduct these classes on-campus
  • Convened a Task Force to help develop curricula for online-only classes
  • Texas One Stop for Enrollment Services worked across campus to provide resources for students

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online – both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • UT Austin has offered online classes to students for several years with success, no comment on long-term impact

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Found that smaller seminar and discussion classes worked well with Zoom
  • Zoom class recording were helpful for students to review information
  • Large enrollment classes not designed for Zoom from the beginning were challenging, classical lecture style is often much less compelling over Zoom
  • High-stakes exams were difficult to arrange due to many opportunities for students to communicate with each other and find material elsewhere

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility, or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty, and students

  • Initial shift to online learning was difficult as some things like labs, etc. do not transfer well
  • Bringing new tech online to compensate take time and resources
  • Many students were able to adapt to online learning, but UTA received comments about the lack of student/teacher and student/student interaction; lack of access to online learning is a significant issue for lower-income students, though some CARES Act funding was intended to offset this
  • Secure ID verification and testing is a developing area of online education

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded demand and capacity?

  • Exposure may lead to increased use of online courses, but UTA does not anticipate long-term shifts in delivery of classes due to expected student/faculty interaction

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable internet access?

  • A framework for partnerships between universities and ISDs to provide hot spots could help with some issues

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component vs. those that do have one or are done in person?

  • Have had to shift temporarily to accommodate programs like the School of Nursing; working within CDC guidelines to bring clinical components of these programs back

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • UT Austin is supportive of expanding the availability of Open Educational Resources

 

University of Texas at El Paso

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Barriers for students include digital knowledge, literacy in a digital environment, access to technology or technology issues, conflicting priorities, and motivation.
  • Many students are older, less familiar with technology, and have existing commitments to families or jobs
  • UTEP offers tutorials and mentors to assist students in acclimating to digital learning

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online – both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Most universities should have data on grades, courses taken, etc., can be correlated to post-graduation success data

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the

pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Shifting to online learning requires a robust infrastructure
  • University should listen to students more about what kind of learning works for them; students generally didn’t like lectures and needed flexibility to adapt to changes
  • Good online course development takes time
  • It is possible to incorporate online course development into regular course delivery

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Challenges include transition to online education, facilitating remote learning, ensuring quality education, protecting well-being of our community, time management, adequate resources, lack of resources to address student technology needs (laptops/hotspots), and expert advice
  • Future challenges will be understanding what has and has not worked during this time

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Difficult to know what education will look like after the pandemic, UTEP believes there will be a need to expand online learning, but will not be entirely online
  • Possible to see more growth in grad programs as people become used to working and studying remotely

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Legislature could take steps to address gaps in equity for reliable, affordable internet access by allocating funding to increase accessibility
  • Lack of access is not entirely a rural problem, publicly available wi-fi is another good solution

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • Accreditation agencies have standards all programs must meet regardless of delivery method; online programs must provide the same level of student support

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • Vendors are required to agree to protect personally identifiable info, restrictions are also placed on transfer, guidelines for notice in case of breach, etc.

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • UTEP believes there is momentum for Open Education Resources, through faculty need more incentives to change curriculums
  • UTEP also expects more shifts to online textbooks

 

University of Texas at Tyler

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Access to tech for online learning, internet access, accommodations for students with special needs, scalability of products used in online education

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online – both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Strong evidence that students in online-only settings perform just as well as in face-to-face settings; UT Tyler has a history of very successful online learning students

With institutions having shifted instruction to online only in the Spring 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Need for online faculty development (technical training, format training), creating kits for disseminating materials to students

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations?

  • Access to technology and internet, scalability of vendor products, outages of vendors services, providing wrap-around services like counseling, and increased costs related to providing quality online education

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • UT Tyler students will likely seek more options for course delivery post pandemic
  • Capacity revolves around student demand, cost to provide alternative instruction methods, and determining appropriate numbers of students and faculty
  • Online education cannot be delegated to just a few staff members who understand the systems, need broad-base knowledge of the mechanics of providing online education

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Universal wireless access and creation of an internet access problem reporting tool

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • UT Tyler uses Canvas, Zoom, Teams, and Proctor U for instruction, each with their own set of privacy measures
  • UT Tyler’s Office of Digital Learning also creates specific credential sets for groups of students with specific accommodations

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the

quality of online education yet?

  • OER legislation helped increase awareness of textbook costs for students; OER does not ensure quality, so ideally faculty could customize the OER resource to the course
  • UT Tyler has made 2 OER textbooks free with a third planned

 

Lone Star College

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions

done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Barriers in lack of computers and wi-fi access for students
  • Needed additional support staff to handle the rapid expansion of online learning & faculty development takes time
  • Some courses still require face-to-face components for accreditation purposes, etc.

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online — both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Lone Star College saw some improvement in student retention and a 5% increase in degree awards from Spring 2019 to Spring 2020; continuing to monitor

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Computer availability and wi-fi access need to be improved
  • Faculty orientation and business operations have shifted to accommodate video conferencing

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Primary challenge is to ensure all students have access regardless of income; expansion of support staff and services is needed to expand online learning
  • Students tend to have lower engagement levels in online learning and this could lead to lower retention and success rates; increasing engagement will require advanced tracking software, hiring additional staff and tutors, improved training and certification, and digitization of documents

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Students and instructors have expressed preferences for online course options; expansion would mean additional training for instructors and revising student services (advising, counseling)
  • Would need call centers for increased tech support demands

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Legislature needs to ensure access to computers and wi-fi are available to all throughout Texas regardless of income, needs to establish internet access as part of the economic and educational foundation of the state

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • Licensing and accreditation still require an in-person nursing component, Lone Star intends to provide a mix of online and in-person instruction to meet these requirements

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • Lone Star looks at privacy when purchasing online curriculum packages, vendors are required to verify that student information is secure

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Faculty have explored OER at their discretion, Lone Star is exploring low cost course materials in its contract with Barnes and Noble

 

Alamo College District

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Student barriers include access to hardware, internet bandwidth, and training with different online learning tools like Zoom, Canvas, etc.; have developed a boot camp to assist students
  • Faculty barriers include training with the online learning tools, bandwidth, and ensuring integrity and privacy; College supports faculty through Continuity of Instruction plan, faculty boot camp, on-demand support

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online — both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Alamo colleges track completion and success rates among differing delivery methods; roughly 90% completion rate in distance learning, 75% earned an A, B, or C

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Colleges learned to keep instruction simple to allow students to complete the semester, provide adequate supports for faculty in training and course development, clearly communicate with students, and leverage the existing infrastructure to provide online options

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Faculty have expressed concerns over potential for academic dishonesty
  • Funding for adaptive tech, training, and support
  • Student engagement

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Alamo Colleges saw large increases in demand, expect this as online learning is flexible

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Legislature can assist educational institutions with funding to help address the tech and access gap
  • Can also lift restrictions on cities and other jurisdictions to allow them to leverage dark fiber to increase bandwidth

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Adoption of OER is a labor-intensive process
  • Students can search for OER courses in the course handbook
  • Clear definitions in §51.451 gave legitimacy to early adopters of OER, Alamo Colleges amended Instructional Materials Guidelines to reflect OER as an option
  • Dual credit agreements could use more legislative work, language in HB 3650 requiring dual credit course agreements between ISDs and higher ed is vague
  • Alamo Colleges is also looking at using Inclusive Access statewide, has been used as a cost saving strategy at Alamo Colleges for the past 5 years

 

Connected Nation

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Legislature should develop a state broadband plan looking at barriers and how to leverage current state and federal funding

 

MD Anderson

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Barriers include burden on faculty offering courses with face-to-face and online components and different pedagogies for identifying the “best model” for online teaching

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online — both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Programs at School of Health Professions are accredited through professional agencies that use graduation rates, 1st attempt board certification exam pass rates, and employment rates

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Highlighted importance in training on online platforms for both faculty and students
  • Front loaded lectures in the spring and had labs in the summer, doing the opposite for fall and winter

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking perspectives of college/university administration, faculty, and students.

  • Challenging to find a platform that develops a sense of community for students
  • Lack of face-to-face social interactions lead to increased anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Many non-traditional students who have work or family commitments will continue online
  • Some students prefer the hybrid courses to allow for more flexibility

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Examine other countries that offer free wi-fi services to their people
  • Start by providing technology funding and scholarships to low-income schools and areas

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • Educational curriculum software gets vetted by a centralized institutional department

 

Stephen F. Austin

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Funding for staffing and resources during budgetary reductions
  • Proctoring of accredited online courses

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas Institutions?

  • THECB is expanding data collection and have retained Student Tracker Premium data from Summer 2020-Summer 2022 for K-12 and post-secondary education
  • SFA is increasing the number of online degrees and will track their success using the THECB data

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Online and other remote delivery options are essential for institutional survival
  • Faculty have had to learn valuable lessons in technology to adapt to the changes

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Lack of broadband infrastructure in the region
  • Some students do not have a computer to access broadband services due to socioeconomics of that region

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Yes, have expanded their remote delivery courses and programs and capacity to be remote-only option when needed

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Fund and support buildout of broadband infrastructure in Texas and specifically rural communities
  • Leverage state projects like highway development projects and assist institutions to leverage state fiber infrastructure to build out the needed broadband infrastructure
    • Effort could expand to include Lonestar Education and Research Network (LEARN) and Southeast Texas Gigapop (SETG)
  • Suggests supporting more competition in Internet services as some communities are reliant on one provider
  • Address Internet access as a state issue, rather than leaving it up to institutions

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • Use Department of Information Services (DIR) contract requirements for data protection

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Plan to utilize the OERTX digital resources and additional funding from the Legislature and Governor to continue OER efforts and access

 

Postsecondary Advocates Coalition

Provide various topics related to Charge 4 that they gathered data and student perspectives on

Current Landscape:

  • In 2019, more than 2 million Texans lacked internet access and many major cities in Texas rank near the bottom in the U.S. in regards to internet access for residents

Student Perspective

  • Survey from Breakthrough Central Texas of class of 2020 students regarding challenges they faced
  • 45% did not have access to their own laptop or computer and 11% did not have access to internet
  • Students are struggling with access to high functioning laptop or computers, internet connectivity

Recommendations

  • Direct additional $10 million from the GEERS fund specifically for higher education instructional materials, internet infrastructure and device procurement
  • Advocate more Congressional stimulus funds for educational purposes, including technology access
  • Avoid cuts to postsecondary institutions to stay on track for TX60x30

 

Texas Woman’s University

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Need for faculty development for online teaching
  • Providing high quality education that complies with ADA required significant financial investment
  • Lack of access to internet and technology required resources from the university

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Online resources will likely increase in all areas of education due to forced exposure
  • Continued full funding of Higher Education Fund is paramount
  • Expect requests for online courses to increase in graduate and degree completion areas

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Invest significantly in our broadband internet infrastructure
  • Lack of access to Internet for all will continue to hold Texas back in the global economy

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • All pre-licensure programs require a face-to-face component for clinicals
  • RN and BSN programs can operate online with varying levels of clinical participation
  • At TWU the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education cites programs that are deficient

 

Texas State University System

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Lack of access to internet or technology
  • Training for faculty in online course development and teaching
  • Addressed barriers using loaner laptops and hotspots for students, increased wi-fi strength and locations, training and orientation for students on online learning

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Research shows that outcomes for online education are “as good as or better” than those for face-to-face instruction

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Institutions that already had vast online learning resources will continue to grow and expand those
  • Institutions that may have been behind were given forced exposure to online learning and will likely continue this growth
  • Enhancements to online learning will require additional funding and support

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Challenges include access to reliable internet and technology
  • The time crunch with COVID-19 made technological expansion difficult
  • Institutions need an integrated common suite of technologies (i.e. learning management systems, proctoring software, ADA compliance software, 24/7 tech support)

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Yes, with increased confidence in online courses and success students will likely take advantage of the flexibility of these courses
  • Important to distinguish true online learning success from what students experienced in the spring for emergency remote learning

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Appreciates the funding provided by the Governor and CARES Act, but will need continued funding and support to provide students with internet and technology resources

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • Most programs will continue to be done in person for clinicals
  • With technological advancements, may see an increase in technology like simulations and 3D visualizations, or virtual reality that would assist in teaching and learning partially online

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • Utilize multi-layered security and authentication protocols
  • Ensure that any programs or software are FERPA compliant

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Provides link to report done by the Digital Higher Education Consortium of Texas: https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/reports/reports-and-studies-non-fiscal/oer-texas/
  • TSUS is in the process of developing systemwide repository and encourage institutions to apply for grants from the THECB for OER expansion
  • Creation of committees like managing Textbook Costs at Texas State University show the increased interest in OER and its expansion

Do small and rural community colleges have the financial capability to switch online, as well as in-person, classes, degrees, etc.?

  • These institutions traditionally have less financial capacity to make the switch to online learning
  • Because these rural institutions are a part of the TSUS they have access to shared resources from other institutions
  • These rural colleges have been able to work with other institutions with support on learning management system, instructional designers, video capture software, ADA compliance software, 24/7 technology hotline services, etc.

 

Texas Library Association

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Faculty’s lack of experience in online learning and student lack of access to internet and technology
  • Librarians have offered a lot of training for faculty on how to use online platforms and resources for this transition
  • Some colleges and universities have obtained CARES Act grants to provide students with technology, but more funding from the Legislature may be needed to assist students

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Institution will have an increased capability and demand for online courses
  • Access to affordable course materials are pivotal to online learning
  • Funding to support OER will help make $10,000 degree programs a reality due to the need for dual-credit and AP course work to accomplish this

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable internet access?

  • Make an investment in broadband Internet access throughout the state, particularly in rural and low-income areas
  • Find ways to address the monopolies and high prices found in current market for these services

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Raised awareness and interest in OER
  • Lack of infrastructure, funding, and strong incentives to increase the availability of OER means many institutions have not invested
  • Grants established by SB810 have helped but are not robust enough to make a statewide impact
  • Outlines some institutions’ plans for expanding OER
  • State-funded grants offered need to be extended to librarians and instructional designers and grants should be available to state and private institutions

 

Vastine Gwendolyn, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Lone Star College

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • For math, delivering quality content to the student, engaging the student, and proctoring

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Challenging for professors who had only ever taught face-to-face before, McGraw-Hill helped with transition to ALEKS; ALEKS allowed for content delivery and proctoring exams
  • Many students said they preferred online lectures they could pause and repeat

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Delivering quality content that engages the student and having a proctored method to test students

 

Alvee Hossain, Student, University of Houston

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Reliable internet access, technical knowledge & established etiquette; typical options for working around internet access restrictions like public libraries and college labs were unavailable due to COVID-19
  • Many professors are inexperienced with online classes and this leads to unproductive classes

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Professors need to be properly trained in how to operate and online class, training for this has application beyond pandemic situations

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students

  • Access to internet and computers is a challenge for some students, even if internet is available the connection is not always suited to online classes
  • Number of students needing to connect can overtax wi-fi hotspots and networks

 

Texas Public Policy Foundation

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Very little data available regarding learning outcomes for either in-person or online learning, however post-grad performance metrics are similar between the types of instruction

 

Houston Community College

  • Barriers to students include limited computer literacy, as well as lack of tech and broadband access
  • Can also see time management issues, lack of quiet places at home to study, lack of access to faculty and peers for support; HCC worked to solve these issue by providing tech and internet access, making calls to students, and creating a virtual lobby for students seeking assistance
  • For faculty, issues included unfamiliarity with tech, preference for face-to-face instruction, and lack of confidence working in remote environments; HCC provided training for these issues
  • Student access to devices was largely resolved, but access to broadband connections is still an issue
  • Procedures for health screenings, etc., were developed for classes that necessitated face-to-face components
  • HCC has not historically seen students attempt exclusively online instruction, data has shown that HCC retention was higher if students were taking at least one online or dual-modality course
  • Prevailing lesson learned was that many students and faculty were not tech savvy and preferred face-to-face instruction; need to be supported to have effective online instruction
  • Uncertain whether online instruction will expand post-pandemic, demand will likely come most from students who are familiar with online instruction
  • Texas legislature can work to ensure each student has broadband access
  • HCC has not seen nursing instruction suffer, following Board of Nursing rules for instruction
  • OER use has been effective at HCC, lowers student cost while improving educational instruction

 

McGraw Hill

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students

  • Faculty using OER or print content only saw a lack of high quality, assignable, online student engagement and assessment resources; institutions needed the ability to provide reliable digital content and platforms
  • Faculty needed training to conduct online classes
  • Many students suffered from lack of access and limited connectivity; McGraw Hill had mobile resources available
  • McGraw Hill partnered with many institutions to implement course material access and affordability programs; also provided content and learning tech like Connect and ALEKS
  • Increased size of product and support teams to assist faculty and students

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • McGraw Hill served as a valuable education partner for many institutions, learned that more accessible materials were needed

 

Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute

  • Pandemic conditions have only expanded the prevalence of online learning resources, many institutions of higher education had the infrastructure in place to roll out online courses
  • Provides data on wide extent of online courses and how primarily-online institutions are accredited
  • While some data is mixed, other data shows that online education is very effective, i.e. WGU graduates are verry successful and have high post-grad performance statistics

 

Texas State Technical College

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Faculty and student barriers to online learning existed before the pandemic but were exacerbated by demand
  • Barriers to online learning included lack of familiarity with online learning expectations, lack of access to tech, lack of internet access, and adapting to online and hybrid modality
  • Faculty barriers included fear of losing student engagement and insufficient experience with components to include in online courses
  • Barriers affecting faculty and students include limited technology proficiency and lack of access to instruction dependent on lab settings
  • TSTC has developed online orientation to help address some issues

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online — both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • TSTC data is on average with data reported by institutions with a 5 to 10 percent decrease in success rates and 5 to 10 percent increase in withdrawal rates; decreased persistence

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Instructional continuity plans can be used in a variety of situations
  • Should have mechanisms to meet online student support and accessibility needs
  • Should ensure faculty have an online presence and are trained on distance learning tools
  • Require programs to work with instructional designers to develop online course material
  • Should assess college programs for what content can be effectively delivered online

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility, or other considerations? The committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty, and students.

  • Lack of tach and dependable internet access for both faculty and students; complicated working remotely for faculty, tech programs at TSTC were hit particularly hard by lack of access
  • IT had to quickly find solutions for e-payment, faxing, bookstore transactions, disability services, etc.
  • Quality in quickly converted face-to-face courses, need resources to ensure long-term quality
  • Lack of training for online course development

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Shift to online courses will lead to increased capacity, TSTC plans to expand online offering fourfold

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • In East and West Texas, students reported lack of access and issues with internet speed
  • In South Texas, students cited high costs of obtaining reliable internet
  • TSTC reopened Learning Resource Centers on an appointment basis to assist

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • Clinical learning is important to nursing instruction and many employers would not hire graduates without clinical experience

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • Courses using third-party packages are required to provide links to privacy policies informing students on collection and use of data

 

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

  • One of the most important projects to THECB is expanding OER for online access to materials to help with online learning for institutions across the state
  • THECB has worked with Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management and creators of OER Commons to make OER repository for Texas (OERTX)
  • Working with institutions to include faculty-created, proven instructional resources that align with Texas Core Curriculum courses, co-requisite courses, and career and technical programs
  • Web portal will also offer online teaching support and training
  • The $10 million through Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) will help develop OER materials, reducing cost to students
  • Funding will also support institutional learning analytics and the development of a digital learning clearinghouse

 

Texas Tech University System

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Limited access to broadband internet; institutions provided mobile hot spots and technology to students and extended wi-fi range to parking lots and public areas
  • Lack of hands-on experiences that are required for some degrees, virtual simulations helped some
  • Differences in faculty capability in technology made broad recommendations or requirements difficult

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Studies at Angelo State show that online courses that have been in place are as effective as face to face
  • Describe some of the requirements for Texas institutions in online learning quality assurance

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Some students will not have the access or self-regulation to succeed in online-only and they need resources early on to help them
  • Faculty without online teaching experience need support in developing online classes
  • Student and staff support services need to be able to continue remotely

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Reliable internet service is critical for success and the requirement of certain technologies or software are an unexpected financial burden
  • Instructional technology staff is required to help develop online courses
  • Access to library and co-curricular support is essential
  • Content needs to be accessible to all learners, including those with ADA requirements

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Will be an increase in demand and capacity of online education given the forced exposure and development
  • Most lab and clinical rotations cannot be replaced by online instruction or simulation

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Work with telecommunications companies to incentivize them to build out universal broadband access through subsidies
  • Provide community colleges/libraries with funding to give Texas communities a location with high quality internet access

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • Some programs experienced reduced clinicals in Spring 2020 and courses supplemented with simulations
  • Important to maintain in-person clinicals as this is a requirement for certification

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • New technologies must be HIPAA and FERPA compliant
  • All TTU systems comply with SACSCOC standards that require institutions to make sure students that register in a distance course are the same students completing the coursework

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Each institution has started its OER repository and utilize central OER repository being developed by THECB

 

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (included in Texas Tech University System document)

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Inconsistent broadband access
  • Students with children had to homeschool their kids while working on their own education
  • University increased communication with students and adapted courses to online
  • Some faculty had little experience teaching online; university rapidly escalated support for faculty in online training
  • Instructional materials and solutions were purchased and reimbursed by CARES Act

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas Institutions?

  • SACSOC requirements guide their quality assurance in online courses
  • Extensive research from institutions is submitted to THECB when a change of modality is proposed

With institutions having shifted to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Need to be prepared with adequate technology and instructional support for faculty and students in online environments
  • Clinical placement opportunities may decrease with strains on medical field, acute and non-acute care clinical placements must be identified in advance

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty, and students.

  • Reliable internet service is critical for success and the requirement of certain technologies or software are an unexpected financial burden
  • Instructional technology staff is required to help develop online courses
  • Content needs to be accessible to all learners, including those with ADA requirements

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Faculty and Institutional Researcher will ne to create best learning environments for courses and deliver in high quality and safe ways

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Incentivize Telecommunications companies to build out universal broadband access, focusing on rural areas

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • Clinical experiences for nursing have continued during the pandemic
  • The temporary waiver issued by the Governor to allow students in their final year to do more than 50% simulation will help those students to complete their degree on time

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • All online programs are HIPAA and FERPA compliant as well as incorporating the US Department of Education’s regulation standards

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Have started OER collection and expect that it will grow over time

 

Texas Tech University (included in Texas Tech University System document)

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Stable internet access; increased wireless capabilities in parking lots in Lubbock and regional sites
  • Online pedagogical training for faculty; instructional designers have worked with faculty to develop online classes

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Number of students that complete online degree programs are measure of success

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Additional training for faculty in online teaching was needed

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Use the Online Course Review Rubric as a measure of quality oof course design and accessibility
  • Students express need for more interaction with professors and other students

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Online options will increase for students

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Work with providers to cover rural and urban areas with affordable access

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • Only work with vendors that meet State and university’s requirement for security

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Minimal progress in lower-division courses, OER not available for most upper-division courses

 

Katherine Thomas, Texas Board of Nursing

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Access to technology and lack of training for teaching online
  • Lack of childcare or support for students with young children
  • Clinical sites were closed for extended period; professors tried to find creative ways to provide online clinical instruction and simulations
  • Security during test-taking

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Preliminary NCLEX examination reports do not show drops in pass rates

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Likely switch to hybrid learning for many courses because of techniques that were learned

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Having adequate technology for everyone with IT support and backup plans

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Possibly, but with nursing the current demand is to be able to return to clinical settings for direct patient care experiences

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Question is better posed to budget and equipment experts

What sort of differences in quality are we seeing for online nursing programs without a clinical component versus those that do have one or are done in person?

  • Preliminary 2020 results for NCLEX shows no appreciable differences in pass rate
  • No nursing program should function without direct patient care
  • Board of Nursing has suggested partnering with care facilities assisting with needs of the pandemic to continue nursing education

Do small and rural community colleges have the financial capability to switch to online, as well as in-person, classes, degrees, etc.?

  • Would need additional funding designated for technology to provide online education

How does the impact of COVID-19 affect the small and rural community college’s ability to offer online classes and make other changes to adapt to the pandemic?

  • Smaller, rural colleges seemed not as severely affected in their ability to maintain open simulation and skills labs

 

University of North Texas System

What are the existing barriers to online learning for students and faculty? What have institutions done to alleviate and eliminate these barriers?

  • Access and support: students and teachers are still getting comfortable with online courses
  • Created websites for support in online learning for both teachers and students

What information and data is available regarding long-term student success for those taking courses primarily online—both in general and specific to Texas institutions?

  • Extensive research done by Department of Education’s 2009 Meta-Analysis
  • Have found that adult students prefer online courses to fit with full-time working

With institutions having shifted instruction to online-only in the Spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, what lessons have been learned?

  • Importance of simplicity in communication with students
  • Contingency planning for transitioning to online courses proved very helpful
  • Need for updated and innovative technology

What are the challenges related to technology, quality, accessibility or other considerations? The Committee is seeking the perspectives of college/university administration, faculty and students.

  • Students and staff lacked internet access and technology
  • Checked out technology and hotspots to students and staff and ensured courses are ADA/508 compliant

Post-pandemic, will the recent shift to online courses lead to expanded online demand and capacity?

  • Expect to offer more blended/hybrid options for students to meet preferences

How can the Legislature address gaps in equity in accessing reliable, affordable Internet access?

  • Provide more funding for technology and hotspots to institutions
  • Work with internet providers to expand free hotspots

What sort of privacy exists for students utilizing some of the more popular online curriculum packages?

  • All utilized technology is HIPAA and FERPA compliant

Has recently adopted legislation on Open Educational Resources been able to make an impact on the quality of online education yet?

  • Too early to tell any significant impacts of OER