BILL REQ. #:  H-4996.1 

Read first time 01/30/08.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

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

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 remote, off-campus means such as audio, video, and computer 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 teleconferencing, online interactive learning, and podcasting.
     (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 electronic learning programs to guide students and their families when making course and program degree selections.
     (3) 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 Washington online campus of the state board for community and technical colleges, a private career or vocational school, a four-year public institution of higher education, the council of faculty representatives, and a community or technical college student to take the following actions related to electronic learning:
     (a) Review, and to the extent necessary, establish standards and best practices regarding electronic learning and related support services including advising, mentoring, counseling, and tutoring;
     (b) Recommend methods to increase student access to electronic learning 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 electronic textbooks; and
     (e) Review and report demographic information on electronic learning program of study enrollments, retention, and completions.
     (4) The work group shall report its findings and recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2008.
     (5) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section.
     (a) "Electronic learning" means a program of study in which teachers and students are physically separated for a predominant amount of instructional contact hours.
     (b) "Program of study" means a credit or noncredit class, degree, or certificate program.