12.6: Summary

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Best practice in articulation refers equally to online courses as to face-to-face courses. Course developers should ensure that they do their homework in advance of requesting credit or offering the course, to ensure that the course, and the students who take it, will receive appropriate transfer credit. Once the course is underway, instructors must ensure that all possible safeguards are in place to maintain the integrity of evaluation of student performance. Evaluators, on the other hand, need to make decisions based on sound principles, and to judge a course by what is really germane to its equivalence, and not allow themselves to be inappropriately influenced by its delivery mode. Working with the institutional research office to keep track of the subsequent performance of transfer students, including those with online courses, will build faith in the articulation process and help it stay on track.

As online learning increases in popularity and availability, it will become more and more important to ensure that descriptions of online courses are honest, detailed and accurate, and that decisions regarding transfer credit are sound, transparent, fair, and defensible. Paying close attention to both sides of the articulation equation will ensure that students can use online learning most effectively as they progress towards their educational goals.

“The new electronic independence re-creates the world in the image of a global village”. – Marshall McLuhan