WCET's 28th Annual Meeting
 
Understanding and Changing the Conversations Around ‘Regular and Substantive Interaction’

Speaker
Moderator: , Vice President, Institutional Advancement , Western Governors University
Speaker: , Associate Vice President, Higher Education Policy & Research, Blackboard, Inc.
Speaker: , Director, Higher Education, New America


Description

“Regular and substantive interaction” is a simple four-word phrase found in the federal definition of “distance education” as a way of to differentiate it from correspondence study. But as competency-based education programs and adaptive learning begin to rise and as the Office of Inspector General applies a very narrow interpretation of the phrase, institutions are left trying to determine how to assure that online and hybrid programs fit a very traditional, face-to-face definition of “regular and substantive interaction.” We will use this time to talk about the current interpretation of “regular and substantive” as well as how we can begin to shift the dialogue from the current definition of interactions to one that would focus on student outcomes.