READ FIRST TIME 02/12/08.   

     AN ACT Relating to electronic learning at institutions of higher education; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) Technology has changed the breadth and depth of educational opportunities available by providing access to higher education through online, web-based learning and other digital technologies. These technological advances have expanded access to help meet the needs of all students, including those with historically low levels of participation in higher education. Technology has enabled nontraditional students, many of whom work full time and have family responsibilities, to access postsecondary education on a schedule that accommodates their lifestyle. The legislature finds that distance learning has expanded beyond correspondence courses and other forms of off-site education to include online, web-based learning, videoconferencing, podcasting, and any other digital medium that connects students to learning opportunities.
     (2) Therefore, it is the legislature's intent to establish and maintain a comprehensive set of best practices and standards of accountability and quality for all eLearning programs to guide students and their families when making course and program degree selections.
     (3) Consistent with the strategic master plan for higher education adopted by the higher education coordinating board, the state board for community and technical colleges shall convene a work group that includes representatives from the workforce training and education coordinating board, the prosperity partnership, the technology alliance, the higher education coordinating board, a private career or vocational school, a four-year public institution of higher education, the council of faculty representatives, the united faculty of Washington state, community and technical college faculty, as well as a community or technical college student to take the following actions related to eLearning:
     (a) Review, and to the extent necessary, establish standards and best practices regarding electronic learning and related support services including online help desk support, advising, mentoring, counseling, and tutoring;
     (b) Recommend methods to increase student access to eLearning programs of study and identify barriers to program of study participation and completion;
     (c) Determine methods to increase the institutional supply and quality of open course materials, with a focus on the OpenCourseWare initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
     (d) Recommend methods to increase the availability and use of digital open textbooks;
     (e) Review and report demographic information on eLearning programs of study enrollments, retention, and completions; and
     (f) Create a subgroup of the work group, led by the workforce training and education coordinating board and including additional industry representation, to examine worksite eLearning programs and options for improvement and expansion of such programs. The subgroup's findings and recommendations shall be included in the report to the legislature as outlined in subsection (4) of this section.
     (4) The work group shall submit a preliminary report of its findings and recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2008, and a final report by December 1, 2009.
     (5) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section.
     (a) "eLearning" means a program of study in which digital technologies are used to support learning in flexible, anytime, anywhere learning spaces. The "e" in "eLearning" stands variously for enhanced, electronic, or extended.
     (b) "Program of study" means a credit or noncredit class, degree, or certificate program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2008, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.