1.2 - Online and Distance Education at LATTC: Background

• Online education is an expansive term at LATTC, encompassing technologies, services, resources, programs, classes, and teaching/learning experiences that are mediated at least partially through the Internet.
• Distance education is a more specific term and is important for accreditation and compliance with state and federal regulations. LACCD’s administrative procedure on distance education, AP 4105 Links to an external site., defines distance education (DE) in accordance with federal statute as “education that uses [technology] to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor(s) and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and instructor(s) either synchronously or asynchronously.” It is important to note that a vital distinguishing characteristic of DE as opposed to correspondence education is that regular and substantive interaction between instructor and students.
• Distance education classes are defined, in accordance with California Community College and ACCJC procedures for data reporting and disaggregation, as course sections in which over half of the instructional time occurs via DE.
• Distance education programs, in accordance with ACCJC standards, are those in which half or more of the required courses have been approved to be offered via distance education through LATTC’s curriculum process.
• Hybrid classes at LATTC are those in which the instructional time is conducted partially online and partially in-person. A hybrid class is considered a DE class for data reporting purposes if over half of its instructional time is conducted online. A class that is otherwise conducted online but requires in-person proctored exams is considered a Hybrid. All hybrid classes are required to comply with AP 4105 for the portions of the class that are conducted via distance education.
• Online classes may be completed entirely online, asynchronously.
• In-person classes are taught on campus with an instructor in the classroom. Also called face-to-face (F2F) or on-ground classes.

With the introduction of new course modalities during the Covid pandemic, we also now talk about:

• Synchronous online classes - may be completed online, including scheduled synchronous meetings on Zoom.
• HyFlex classes - are taught in a classroom and online simultaneously. Students choose how to attend. As of spring 2023, HyFlex classes at LATTC offer the choice of in-person or online synchronous attendance, but not online asynchronous.

Additionally, it's probably important to address the word Course. This can be a confusing word because it is used contextually to mean related, but different, things.

• In a curricular sense, course is shorthand for the course of study comprising the content, activities, outcomes, and assessments described in a Course Outline of Record. "Have you completed the SOC 1 course?"
• In a colloquial sense, you may hear a course section, or class, referred to as a course. "What grade did you get in Professor Howard's SOC 1 course?" This is probably technically incorrect, and it would be clearer if we consistently used "course section" or "class" for this purpose.
• It's also generally accepted to refer to the online site supporting a course section as a course. "The Canvas course for Professor Davis's SOC 101 class is really well organized." Sometimes people will refer to this as a course site or course shell.

In this Handbook, we will use "course" to designate a subject and number (SOC 1) which could be taught by multiple instructors in multiple classes. "Class" refers to one offering with a five-digit section code in PeopleSoft (section #15475).