Section I: Teacher Rights and Responsibilities

1. Voluntary

• The unique challenge of teaching over interactive television requires that every effort be made to use volunteer teachers. Those with exceptional teaching techniques shall be encouraged. Any teacher wishing to change his or her status on the two-way interactive network should notify their administration on or before March 1 prior to the school year the class is or will be scheduled.

2. Teachers shall personalize the interactive classes

• Teachers should and are encouraged to visit and teach from the remote sites once each semester.**
• The teacher should:
  • Follow the procedure in the home school for teacher leave.
  • Contact the remote site for permission to visit.
  • Notify the administrator at the home site as soon as possible if the visit needs to be cancelled or postponed.

**The cost of substitute pay and transportation for the teacher's visit is the responsibility of the home site school.

• Teachers should schedule opportunities to gather all students involved in an interactive class. (Field trips, pizza party, etc.) Each local school district will assume transportation costs, responsibility for liability, and cost of its students.
• Teachers should schedule opportunities for private conferences and other necessary visits to remote sites.
• Teachers should develop effective teaching techniques that encourage cooperative participation of all students as a whole unit, rather than as separate site units.

3. Teachers shall schedule parent-teacher conferences for all students.

• Parent-Teacher conferences should be held via the interactive system in order to expose parents to the technology that is being used to instruct their child, unless the parent feels uncomfortable with it, then other arrangements would need to be made. When conducting conferences over ITV, the teacher should take the necessary action to assure that confidentiality is maintained by the coordination of the network switching process and by placing supervisory monitors so they cannot be viewed openly.
• Conferences may be scheduled over the telephone or at a common site as necessary and agreed upon by both the parent and teacher.
• Teachers are responsible for scheduling conferences as they determine necessary.

4. Teachers shall establish procedures for completing lab work for courses requiring laboratory experiments.

• Teachers shall provide advance written guidelines for remote sites for accomplishment of these objectives.
• Responsibility for expense and supervision of these activities will be assumed by each local district participating.

5. Teacher Training

• Teachers new on the two-way interactive system will be given a one day training program prior to teaching students. This training will be the responsibility of the sending site and will consist of the following:

A. Introduction to the two-way interactive system

 

B. Equipment

 

(1) Identification and placement

 

(2) Operation

 

C. Procedures/Network Policies

 

D. Instructional Guides

 

E. User tips

6. Teacher Evaluation

• Teachers hired to teach over the two-way interactive network will be evaluated by the administration of the sending site. The evaluation instrument used will be determined by the sending site.
• The sending site administration is free to utilize input toward evaluation from network administration from receiving sites.

7. Time and Compensation

• Any release time or additional compensation for instructors teaching over the interactive network for training and/or class preparation will be determined by the originating site school district.

8. Time Management

• To maximize time on task, schedules must be coordinated. Each site should synchronize their bell system to allow the interactive class to function efficiently. When teachers are aware of a discrepancy in the bell system, they should contact the appropriate administrators to make the necessary adjustments.
• Use of the intercom, FAX machines, and other classroom interruptions should be kept at a minimum.
• Weekly bulletins are to be exchanged between sites each week. Notification of daily schedule changes should be provided to sending and receiving sites as soon as possible.

Section II: Classroom Management

1. Class Size

• Class size shall be limited to 24 students (six per site) unless additional student enrollment is mutually agreed upon by the teacher and administration.

2. Discipline

• Participating districts shall develop system-wide student discipline procedures.
• Student Responsibility - Students are expected to sign and abide by the guidelines of the Interactive Television Student Policy.
• Teacher Responsibility - Teachers are expected to maintain usual classroom order as in a regular class situation, but shall not be held liable for behavior of students at remote sites.
• In the event of behavior problems, the teacher shall notify remote site personnel immediately. Each site will be equipped with a telephone listing of other site phone numbers and contact persons. Behavior problems at remote sites will be handled by remote site personnel.

3. Attendance

• Student absences will be handled as with other absences, except that the originating teacher shall maintain a record of remote site student absences from his/her classes. (For grading and assessment purposes)
• Each school is responsible for maintaining attendance records for students at that site.

4. Production Rights

• Any of the Consortium schools may reuse the delivery tapes in-house. The sale and reuse of remote delivery tapes outside the network schools shall be permitted only upon agreement of the teacher and the Consortium Governing Body.
• A release shall be obtained from parents of students and/or students of legal age portrayed in taped sessions in the event that the tape is used for other than in-house educational purposes.

Section III: Administration Responsibilities

1. Member Participating Districts shall establish procedures for the exchange of written materials and assignments.

• Each site shall provide a facsimile (FAX) machine to allow immediate hard copy transfer of materials. If the fax machine is not located at the interactive classroom, personnel shall be assigned to facilitate this transfer of materials.
• Teachers, school buses, or other individuals that travel between sites may be used to transport materials.
• The postal service may be used to exchange materials when appropriate.

2. Member Participating Districts shall establish procedures for protecting teacher and student rights to privacy.

• Place controls for audio and video signals within access of the teacher.
• Place supervisory monitors so open viewing is not possible.
• Notify teachers in advance of visitors to any of the attending sites. Visitors out of camera range at any of the sites should be properly acknowledged.
• Coordinate signal switching and site link networking as necessary.

3. Member Participating Districts shall encourage cooperation among districts to maximize time on task.

• Coordinate school calendars and course period time changes.
• Establish common beginning and ending dates for courses.
• Notify originating and receiving sites of daily schedule changes as early as possible, including dismissals due to weather.
• Exchange bulletins between districts to help teachers and students better prepare for interruptions.
• Minimize intercom or public address system interruptions.

4. Member Participating Districts shall make interactive teachers aware of special health and learning disability needs of registered students.

5. Member Participating Districts shall develop procedures for conducting class in the event of technical failure.

• Assign a facilitator in each district with the responsibilities assigned according to the "Facilitator Job Description" established by the network.
• Train more than one person to operate the interactive television equipment to trouble-shoot problems on the system as they occur.

6. Member Participating Districts are responsible for the purchase of appropriate materials for the interactive classes they are sending.

• Textbooks, Workbooks, and Materials
  • The originating site will:
    • Determine and purchase the necessary textbooks, workbooks and other materials needed for the course.
    • Rent textbooks to the receiving site for $3.00 per ITV course per year, to be billed by the sending site with the understanding that these funds are derived from the existing textbook rental fee charged by the receiving district and not an additional charge to students enrolled in ITV courses.
    • Notify receiving sites of the costs of consumable workbooks and other materials. This should be done in the spring prior to the fall semester for budget planning purposes.
    • Be responsible for transporting the textbooks, workbooks, and materials to the receiving site(s). This could be done during teacher inservice prior to the beginning of the school year, exchanged at a mutually agreed upon site between the sending and receiving sites, or be sent through the postal service or other hired carrier. The cost of sending materials is the responsibility of the sending site.
  • The receiving site will:
    • Reimburse the originating site for the cost of textbook rental fees, consumable workbooks and materials.
    • Return textbooks to the originating site at the end of the term the class is taught in like condition in which they were received.
    • Be responsible for the cost to replace lost or damaged textbooks rented from the originating site.
    • Be responsible for transporting the textbooks back to the originating site at the end of the term. This could be done during teacher inservice at the end of the term, by exchange at a mutually agreed upon site between the sending and receiving sites, or sent through the postal service or other hired carrier. The cost of returning the textbooks is the responsibility of the receiving site who is returning textbooks.
    • Provide special equipment required by the course - i.e. lab equipment, etc. - as determined by the sending site in the spring prior to the fall semester in which the course is offered.
• Supplementary Materials
  • Supplementary materials such as filmstrips, videotapes, resource books, etc, will be purchased by the originating site and become the property of the originating site. It is suggested that budget support be set aside to meet the requirements of the two-way courses.

7. Policy Development

• Teachers shall be involved in the development of policies and procedures for using the interactive television system.
  • Collect teacher input on the system through teacher surveys and meeting discussions. This input shall be considered by the administrative ITV Policy Council.
  • Involve teachers in their own staff development and program development through inservice opportunities and professional conferences directed at interactive television and its associated growth.
    

Section IV: Enrollment

1. Teachers shall provide a course syllabus for the registration of students in interactive television courses that is approved by the originating site administration.

• The course syllabus should:

Identify prerequisites so there are clearlyu understood by individuals responsiblle for student counseling and scheduling.

 

Accurately describe intractive television class expectations to students or expose students to an existing interactive television class.

 

2. Pre-Registration and Registration procedures shall be coordinated and consistent in all participating districts. Principals will provide completed enrollment forms to the sending site teacher prior to the first scheduled class.

• Students shall pre-enroll in SW NDLC classes in April, prior to enrolling in regular classes.
• Enrollment will be a coordinated effort between the Southwest Nebraska Consortium ITV Director, member participating district administration, and individuals responsible for student counseling and scheduling.
  

Section V: Student Guidelines

• 1. Purpose: This classroom guideline outlines standards of study and behavior for students participating in Southwest Nebraska Distance Learning classes.

  2. Distribution: A copy should be provided to each student participating in SW NDLC classes, along with an Interactive Television Student Policy Agreement, which each student and a parent or guardian must sign and return to the local school district. Distance Learning Instructors are encouraged to also keep a copy of each signed Student Policy Agreement on file for each class taught via the distance network. See Student Policy Agreement.

  3. History of the Network:

  The Southwest Nebraska Distance Learning Consortium is a two-way, interactive fiber optic distance learning network connecting thirty-three school districts, Educational Service Unit 15 at Trenton, Educational Service Unit 16 at both Ogallala and North Platte, and three college campuses: MidPlains Community College at North Platte, McCook Community College, and the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture at Curtis. In addition, the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Southeast Community College of Lincoln, and Chadron State College regularly deliver classes into sites located within the Consortium.

  The purpose of the SW NDLC is to provide increased educational opportunities for all students, staff and patrons of the communities within the Consortium. Using the latest video technology, classes which would not usually be available at many schools can be taught by a teacher at another location giving students the opportunity to take a variety of new and different classes. Students must understand that, along with this new opportunity, comes additional responsibility. Students participating in distance learning classes are expected to demonstrate a high degree of initiative, discipline, and cooperation since they may be in one location and the instructor may be in another.

  Although all the TV monitors, microphones and cameras make the distance learning classroom appear more technical than the "normal" classroom, students should view distance learning classes exactly the same as traditional "face-to-face" classes--no harder, no easier, just the same.

  4. Class procedures: Since the teacher and students in SW NDLC classes may be located in different physical locations, there are some classroom procedures which must be followed to ensure effective and productive classes.

  a. Microphones: The student microphones in the SW NDLC classroom are "live" and broadcasting at all times. The microphones are very sensitive and pick up even the slightest whispers, so students are advised not to say anything they wouldn't want their grandmother to hear!

  b. Candid Camera: Students should assume that any time they are in the distance learning classroom someone is watching or listening to them. When a connection is made, if one site has its TV monitors on and sound off mute, they can see and hear everything going on at the other sites in that class. Even when the TV monitors aren't on, the audio still comes across the system. Additionally, a classroom TV monitor may be placed in the principal's office at each SW NDLC school. This allows the principal or other administrative personnel to see and hear students at any time in the local distance learning classroom.

  c. Camera Shots: Students must stay in camera view at all times unless directed otherwise by their teacher. Nebraska Law requires that for a distance learning class to be certified by the state, all students in grades K-12 must remain in sight of the teacher at all times.

  d. Local room facilitator. Each school will have someone, either a teacher or administrator, designated to assist the instructor in collecting tests, papers, and in handing out materials from the instructor. The distance learning instructor will let students know who that person is at each location.

  e. Leaving class. If students have to leave class early at their school (athletic events, assemblies, etc.), they should tell the instructor at the beginning of class. Unexcused absences will be given if students leave class without informing the instructor. During fire or tornado drills or school emergencies, students should follow the procedures and instructions at their school.

  5. Class Policies.

  a. General. The general class policies such as class requirements, grading, and make-up requirements will be provided in a class syllabus by the instructor. These policies will be those of the host school in the case of high school classes; students will follow the class syllabus provided by the instructor for any college course. If students have questions or don't understand a policy, they need to talk to their local site coordinator or principal.

  b. Discipline: Each student taking a SW NDLC class will sign an Interactive Television Student Policy Agreement which outlines expected behavior. The purpose of this Student Policy Agreement is to maximize instructional quality, minimize classroom disruptions, and guarantee that students are aware of the standards for taking classes over the network. Those Student Policy Agreements are contracts which the SW NDLC considers as binding as any of the student agreements in the local school student handbooks.

  c. Class handouts. Handouts and class materials will be provided to students by the local site facilitator.

  d. Submitting materials to the teacher. The local site facilitator will be responsible for mailing, faxing, or delivering materials such as homework, tests, study guides or other papers to the teacher. Students are responsible for getting these items to their site facilitator by the required due date.

  e. Contacting the instructor after class. If students need to contact their SW NDLC instructor outside of normal class times they should make arrangements with their local site facilitator to either phone, email or fax the teacher, or they may set up a meeting using the network. There is generally a reserved conferencing time set between 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in most locations for just such events. The site facilitator or principal should contact the Consortium Director at 308-334-5160 to set up a network conference after school.

  6. Technology failure. In the event the network experiences video or audio difficulty and students can no longer communicate with their instructor, one student from the class should contact the local site facilitator or the school principal. The instructor may designate the student responsible for this duty at the beginning of the school year or second semester.

  7. Questions: If students have any questions about anything in connection to the SW NDLC network, they should contact their local site facilitator or their principal as quickly as possible.

  8. Website: Visit the SW NDLC Website for updates and other information about network happenings at http://www.esu15.org/~dlhome/home.html.

..Rev. 12-18-01