Implementing guidelines of CMO 35

IMPLEMENTING GUIDELINES OF CMO 35

There are six major components of the implementing guidelines of CMO 35. These uidelines have carefully considered issues that have not been included in previous guidelines. The implementing guidelines focus on which institutions to offer distance education programs, institutional management, and the components of distance education.

Which Institutions May offer Distance Education Programs?

This issue has always been the source of debates and heated discussions in public for a. The fundamental requirement imposed by CHED is that only higher education institutions with Level III accreditation are permitted to offer distance education programs in those areas that they have Level III accreditation.

Many higher education institution insist that they should be permitted to offer distance education programs. However, most if not all these institutions simply do not have the expertise or resources to be able to undertake distance education programs. On the basis of the monitoring observations that the former Technical Committee of Reviewers gathered, none of those monitored, with the exception of the University of the Philippines Open University, should have been allowed to offer distance education programs and courses in the first place.

In addition, CHED requires that institutions wanting to offer distance education programs must first comply with CHED Quality Assurance System for Distance Education.

Institutional Management Commitment

This requirement is structure-oriented and resource-oriented. Under this principle, the higher education institution undertaking distance education programs is required to provide in its institutional statement of vision, mission, and goals a clear commitment to its distance education program. This statement is supported by providing for regular budgetary allocation, organizational structure indicating how distance education would be managed and implemented, assigning on full time basis competent key individual who will manage the distance education program, provision of an internal quality assurance management system, and a clear system of continuing self-evaluation directed toward more effective pedagogy, effective assessment of student achievement, improved retention rates, and effective use of resources.

Instructional Materials Development

Instructional materials form the core of distance education programs. These provide the primary means through which independent learning can be achieved. It is for this reason that instructional materials must be appropriate to learning needs both in terms of content and means of delivery.in order that the kinds of instructional materials described above can be designed and produced, the institution must have a pool of qualified subject matter specialists and a team of related expert such as instructional designers and media specialists who possess skills needed to transform specific materials into learning packages that are suitable for delivery in the distance mode.

Delivery Strategies

In distance education, the delivery of course content consists of three processes, namely: