In this post I would like to (1) explain in very simple terms the meaning of e-learning policy (2) describe contents of an e-learning policy, and finally (3) provide a real-world exmple of an e-learning policy.
What is an e-learning Policy?
An e-learning policy is a set of guidelines and requirements which are formulated to achieve effective lesson delivery and learning experience through an online platform such as a Learning Management System.
Without guidelines and requirements lecturers will have no standard procedures to follow when going about their work, and there will be no form of accountability or penalties to enforce. This ultimately affects the quality of the teaching-service delivery.
Contents of an E-Learning Policy
An e-learning policy is a set of guidelines and requirements which are formulated to achieve effective lesson delivery and learning experience through an online platform such as a Learning Management System.
Without guidelines and requirements lecturers will have no standard procedures to follow when going about their work, and there will be no form of accountability or penalties to enforce. This ultimately affects the quality of the teaching-service delivery.
Contents of an E-Learning Policy
Different organisations may have different contents for their policies. Below I provide a template that I believe consists of essential elements for effective e-learning service delivery. You are free to adapt and use it for your organisation.
Purpose: Here state what the policy intends to achieve in your organisation. Inlude statements on any piece of legislation if any that the policy is designed to adhere to.
Scope: Here state what aspect of your information system the policy addresses (for example, a campus manangement system may have various components inclduing payroll, timetabling, and e-learning components but the policy may be referring to the e-learning component), and for which stakeholders the policy was developed (e.g lecturers).
Service Delivery: Here state what learning resources should be made available to students (for example lesson notes, videos (embbeded or via links), and book references.
Learner Support: Learner Support refers to what teachers or lecturers should do to help learners beyond the normal delivery of content (Bates, 2014). Under this heading the policy should state in what ways, and when, learner support is available. Schedules or timetables of videoconferences or webinars, during which students can ask questions on items of a topic they need clarifications on, should be made available.
Assessments: Here state what assessments students should be given, criteria of allocating marks, and when feedback (assessment results) will be made available to the learners. Students should have the confidence that for all assessments given they will have timely feedback.
Behavioral Conduct: Here state the professional and ethical conduct that is expected of lecturers when engaging with students on a complaint, giving assessment feedback, or publishing a notice.
Revisions and Updating Schedule: State who is responsible for making revisions and the intervals or schedules for considering such revisions.
Sanctions for Violations: Note that a policy which doesn't stipulate sanctions to be imposed on its violaters is more likely to be a useless document. The 'Sanctions for Violations' section of the e-learning policy is very crucial for a successfull implementation and management of e-learning. The section helps to ensure that everyone complies with the policy requirements. Under this section explain how violations should be handled, where they need to be reported to, and state what penalties or sanctions should be applied on a violator.
Contact Information: Details of who should be contacted about any matter regarding the policy.
Glossary: Define any words that are likely to be unclear to the reader of the policy.
Acronyms: This section is more appropriate for longer and complex documents; it spells out acronyms used in the document. Where a policy document is small - as is expected for an e-learning policy - acronyms can be spelt out within the document.May I state here that it is important to be realistic when formulating an e-learning policy. It will be quite futile to develop a policy that merely outlines the wishes of an instition but which are actually impractical. A policy should also be simple and easy to understand and something whose every stakeholder will be able to remember by heart. A simple way to find out if an institution has an e-learning policy is to ask any user of it if they can coherently state and explain one or two phrases of the policy. If a considerable number of users are unable to do that then the organisation has no policy in place! A policy should be a printed form of the spirit, guidelines and procedures that characterise an organisation's work environment.
Example of an E-learning Policy
You may find it helpful to take a look at the e-learning policy used by the University of Nottingham here. It does not contain all the details explained in the template above but should suffice to give you an idea of how an e-learning policy looks like.
References
Bates, T. (2014). Why learner support is an important component in the design of teaching and learning. Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2014/08/26/why-learner-support-is-an-important-component-in-the-design-of-teaching-and-learning/
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