Distance Education and Training Council
www.detc.org The Distance Education and Training Council is a non-profit organization that operates a nationally recognized accrediting association, the DETC Accrediting Commission, that promotes educational excellence in distance learning institutions. This agency aims to stimulate excellence in student learning outcomes as well as other important areas such as student services and consumer protection. The PADI Manta Ray Diver course academic component will be delivered as a distance education course. I will explore DETC accreditation and how that relates to existing PADI online courses as I continue developing the course. |
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
www.iso.org Information Technology (IT) offers speed and efficiency as well as better feedback and improvements with assessment. Issues of security and fairness are a concern. This organization addresses this with a code of practice for the use of information technology in the delivery of assessments. ISO/IEC 23988:2007 Information technology I will take a closer look at this standard when developing my assessment instruments I will include for the PADI Manta Ray Diver Course. |
United States Distance Learning Association
www.usdla.org The USDLA offers a quality standards certification for distance learning programs. These standards include standards of practice for administration and management, student affairs, teaching and learning, and infrastructure. Included in the teaching and learning section is student evaluation measures. I will take a closer look at these standards as I develop student assessment in a distance education course with the PADI Manta Ray Diver Specialty Course. |
Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI)
www.padi.com The PADI Manta Ray Diver Specialty course is considered an instructor authored Distinctive Specialty and must adhere to PADI standards. A template (included below) helps the instructors create their own Distinctive Specialty courses. Final approval from PADI Headquarters is received only after all appropriate standards are included. Keller Laros initially authored the PADI Manta Ray Diver Specialty in 1996. As standards improve or change, the course outline is updated and new approval is sought after. Wendy Laros has worked as the instructional designer for the course for all updated versions after the original 1996 version. The most recent approval was granted in 2012. Implementation of a new version with online academics will require new approval. PADI is a leader in offering eLearning for the academic component of most of their diving courses.
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