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Resources and Memberships
Faculty Online Resource Center (FORC)
If you need assistance with maximizing your use of Blackboard for yourself and your students, we have multiple options available. The Faculty Online Resource Center (FORC) offers tips, processes, videos, and answers to frequently asked questions. You can access the FORC through your portal as an organization. If you have any questions or encounter issues with the FORC or Blackboard in general, feel free to contact us at the Online Learning Help Desk lasierra.atlassian.net/servicedesk.
Student Online Resource Center (SORC)
As you make your way through your career as a La Sierra University student, you will use Blackboard extensively alongside your face-to-face courses. You may find that your professors use Blackboard only a little, or you may take courses entirely on Blackboard. Our Student Online Resource Center (SORC) can help you navigate Blackboard with tips, processes, videos, and advice. Blackboard need not be a daunting aspect of your classes, and we are here to help with these resources and our help desk for questions and problems. You can access the SORC through your portal as an organization. If you have any questions or encounter issues with the SORC or Blackboard in general, feel free to contact us at the Online Learning Help Desk lasierra.atlassian.net/servicedesk.
OLC
La Sierra University currently maintains a membership with the Online Learning Consortium (OLC). The Online Learning Consortium provides an overabundance of information relating to all types of distance education material; online and varied virtual teaching and learning formats. La Sierra faculty enjoy attending synchronous and asynchronous workshops, listening to podcasts or webinars, attending virtual conferences, reading journal information, and much more. Our membership with OLC assists our department in providing our faculty with updated information and training materials, allowing our team to stay up-to-date on the many changes in online education.
USDLA
We value our membership with the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA). This is a nonprofit distance learning association that provides our faculty with quality research, journals, websites resources, blogs, books and articles on distance education changes and challenges. We give our faculty access to this information in our online faculty resource center.
WCET and SAN
Western Commission Educational Technology (WCET) is a Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) nonprofit unit. WCET brings colleges, universities, higher education organizations, and companies together to improve the communication of technology-enhanced learning programs. They have four main focuses: emerging technologies, institutional success, policy and regulation, and student success. The State Authorization Network ( SAN) provides leadership, training, and community in support of policy and procedure regarding state authorization, professional licensure, the United States Military, and international authorizations. Our team works closely with these organizations to continue our role in student success and state and federal online or distance education regulations.
AICCU
The Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) comprises over 85 non-profit colleges and universities. They work closely with the state to provide policy, leadership, and community. Through the AICCU, our leadership and faculty have access to up-to-date information on policy changes, healthcare in the workforce, information about adult learners, and diversity. They provide multiple fact sheets and state reports and assist with knowledge of higher education policy as it relates to online education, state authorization changes and updates, and much more.
Online Learning Newsletter
Every quarter our team compiles a newsletter for our faculty that introduces them to changes or challenges we discover in our research. In this newsletter, we also offer upcoming workshops or webinars that our team members develop and those they will find interesting as they continue their journey into distance education. Our newsletters are delivered quarterly and then placed in the factuly online resource center for review.
If you are part of the La Sierra faculty and would like to contribute to our newsletter, don't hesitate to contact us at online@lasierra.edu with the title Contributor. We are always looking for interesting and exciting online and distance education news.