SECTIONS 78910.10-78910.30 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 78910.10-78910.30

78910.10. (a) (1) The California Virtual Campus, pursuant to
funding provided to the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges for this purpose in the annual Budget Act, may
pursue all of the following purposes, to the extent funding is
available:
(A) To enrich formal and informal educational experiences and
improve students' academic performance by supporting the development
of highly engaging, research-based innovations in teaching and
learning in K-12 public schools and the California Community
Colleges, the California State University, and the University of
California.
(B) To enhance the awareness of, and access to, highly engaging
online courses of study, emphasizing courses of study that support a
diverse and highly skilled science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics workforce.
(C) To support education research, the implementation of
research-based practices, and promote economic development through
the use of next generation advanced network infrastructure, services,
and network technologies that enable collaboration and resource
sharing between formal and informal educators in K-12 public schools,
the California Community Colleges, the California State University,
the University of California, independent colleges and universities,
public libraries, and community-based organizations at locations
across the state.
(D) To increase access to next generation Internet services, 21st
century workforce development programs, and e-government services for
students and staff served or employed by education entities and
students served primarily online through partnerships with public
libraries and community-based organizations.
(E) To enhance access to health care education and training
programs to current or future health care workers.
(F) To manage digital assets and develop contracts for services
necessary to provide the technical and management support needed to
maximize the benefits of the high-speed, high-bandwidth network
infrastructure available to public higher education entities in
California.
(G) Through the aggregation of demand for network enabled
technologies and related services from public education entities, and
through partnerships with the private sector, to provide education
entities with access to technical support and staff who can
facilitate statewide efforts that support innovations in teaching and
learning that are necessary to provide for a well-educated
citizenry, and economic and 21st century workforce development.
(2) To accomplish the purposes of paragraph (1), the California
Virtual Campus may partner with local educational agencies, the State
Department of Education, the 11 regional California Technology
Assistance Projects, the California Community Colleges, the
California State University, the University of California,
independent colleges and universities, public libraries, and
community-based organizations to facilitate ongoing collaboration and
joint efforts relating to the use of technology resources and
high-speed Internet connectivity to support teaching, learning,
workforce development, and research.
(3) Efforts conducted as a result of this chapter shall not
prohibit or otherwise exclude the ability of existing or new
educational technology programs from being developed, expanded, or
enhanced.
(b) For purposes of this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Online courses of study" means any of the following:
(A) Online teaching, learning, and research resources, including,
but not necessarily limited to, books, course materials, video
materials, interactive lessons, tests, or software, the copyrights of
which have expired, or have been released with an intellectual
property license that permits their free use or repurposing by others
without the permission of the original authors or creators of the
learning materials or resources.
(B) Professional development opportunities for formal and informal
educators who desire to use the resources in subparagraph (A).
(C) Online instruction.
(2) "Online instruction" means technology enabled online real time
(synchronous) interaction between the instructor and the student,
near time (asynchronous) interaction between the instructor and the
student, or any combination thereof.
(c) The California Virtual Campus grant recipient may accomplish
all of the following:
(1) Convene at least four leadership stakeholder group meetings
annually comprised of representatives from the State Department of
Education, the California Technology Assistance Project, and other
related programs administered through the department, local education
agencies, including adult education, the California Community
Colleges, the California State University, the University of
California, independent colleges and universities, the California
State Library, and representatives from community-based organizations
to ensure the efforts affecting segments represented are
appropriately meeting the needs of those segments. The leadership
stakeholder group shall also coordinate and obtain assistance with
the implementation of efforts delineated in this article, to identify
and maintain an up-to-date list of the technology resources and
tools that are necessary to support innovation in teaching and
learning, and to identify opportunities for leveraging resources and
expertise for meeting those needs in an efficient and cost-effective
manner.
(2) Lead efforts to make online courses of study available across
the state that include, but are not limited to, the following:
(A) Developing online courses of study that are pedagogically
sound and fully accessible, in compliance with the federal Americans
with Disabilities Act (Public Law 101-336), by students with varying
learning styles and disabilities.
(i) The development of K-12 online courses pursuant to this
subparagraph shall be achieved in partnership with local education
agencies and the California Technology Assistance Project.
(ii) Online courses developed for grades K-12 pursuant to this
subparagraph shall be aligned to the California academic content
standards and guidelines for online courses.
(B) Overseeing the development of at least 12 model online courses
of study that, collectively, would allow students to meet the
requirements of the Intersegmental General Education Transfer
Curriculum (IGETC) and at least two courses that support basic skills
education courses in English, English as a second language, or
mathematics.
(C) Encouraging the entities listed in paragraph (1) to do both of
the following:
(i) Make accessible to each other their courses of study that are
funded by the state.
(ii) Allow their courses of study to be accessible to the general
public if they determine access would not inhibit their ability to
provide appropriate protection of the state's intellectual property
rights.
(3) Ensure that the learning objects created as part of the
California Virtual Campus online courses of study with state General
Fund revenues are linked to digital content libraries that include
information about course content freely available to California
educators and students.
(4) Develop formal partnership agreements between the entities
listed in paragraph (1) and the California Virtual Campus, including
course articulation agreements that allow qualified high school
students to accelerate the completion of requirements for a high
school diploma and a two-year or four-year degree and agreements that
provide opportunities for part-time faculty teaching online to
obtain full-time employment teaching online.
(5) Develop formal partnership agreements with the entities listed
in paragraph (1) and others to enhance access to professional
development courses that introduce faculty, teachers, staff, and
college course developers to the conceptual development, creation,
and production methodologies that underlie the development of online
courses of study and support students' successful completion of those
courses. The professional development opportunities may include, but
not necessarily be limited to, all of the following:
(A) Addressing issues relating to copyright, permission for the
use or reuse of material, use of resources in the public domain, and
other intellectual property concepts.
(B) Accessibility for students with disabilities.
(C) Factors to ensure that content is culturally relevant to a
diverse student body.
(D) Delivery options that incorporate multiple learning styles and
strategies.
(6) Develop formal partnership agreements with entities,
including, but not limited to, those listed in paragraph (1), to
ensure access to online professional learning communities that
incorporate the use of Internet-based collaboration tools and to
support joint discussions between K-12 educators, higher education
faculty and staff, and others to examine student performance data,
student learning objectives, curriculum, and other issues that relate
to students' academic success and preparation for the workforce.
(7) In partnership with entities, including those listed in
paragraph (1), develop an e-portfolio system that allows
participating students to demonstrate their attainment of academic
learning objectives, skills and knowledge that relate to their career
interests, and completion of prerequisites for participation in
courses or training programs. The e-portfolio system may do all of
the following:
(A) Ensure that student privacy is protected in accordance with
existing law.
(B) Comply with accessibility laws for students with disabilities.
(C) Be designed in a manner that supports the use of e-portfolio
content in the accreditation requirements of schools, colleges, and
universities.
(8) In partnership with entities, including those listed in
paragraph (1), identify opportunities to enhance students' access to
medical education and medical services through the use of high-speed
Internet connections to the campuses, and opportunities for education
programs and services to support the telemedicine efforts taking
place within the state.
(d) The lead agency for the California Virtual Campus, in
consultation with the leadership stakeholder group described in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) if that group is convened by the
California Virtual Campus grant recipient, shall contract with an
independent third party with expertise in online teaching, learning,
and the development of online courses of study, as approved by the
board, to evaluate the California Virtual Campus. The evaluation
shall include, but not be limited to, an assessment of the number of
faculty, teachers, consortia, informal educators, and students that
use the online courses of study, the quality of students'
experiences, student grades earned, and the cost of the online course
content, comparing the online course content with traditional
textbooks. The board may require additional information that it
determines to be necessary to evaluate the effectiveness and
viability of the California Virtual Campus. This evaluation shall be
submitted to the Legislature no later than three years of the
enactment of this act.

78910.15. (a) By February 28, 2009, the board shall require the
California Virtual Campus to establish memorandums of understanding
with at least 10 community-based organizations specified in paragraph
(2) of subdivision (c) of Section 280.5 of the Public Utilities
Code, that provide residents in low-income neighborhoods with access
to high-speed networking and computers. The memorandum of
understanding shall document the California Virtual Campus'
commitment to do all of the following:
(1) Provide high-speed network connectivity to the site.
(2) Provide access to online courses of study and tutoring
services.
(3) Work with the community-based organization, and partner with
local educational agencies, the California Technology Assistance
Project, and other state-supported K-12 educational technology
programs, as appropriate, to plan and promote joint educational
offerings that are delivered online and supported by the staff of a
community-based organization that can facilitate student use of
technology.
(b) The 10 community-based organizations shall be selected on a
competitive basis by a six-member selection committee convened by the
California Virtual Campus. Members of the selection committee shall
include:
(1) Two representatives of community-based organizations appointed
by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges.
(2) One community college representative appointed by the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges.
(3) One representative from a K-12 school district appointed by
the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
(4) One representative from the California State University
appointed by the Chancellor of the California State University
system.
(5) One representative appointed by the California Emerging
Technologies Fund Committee.
(c) The selection committee convened pursuant to subdivision (b)
shall ensure that no less than one community-based organization is
selected from each of the nine economic regions identified by the
California Economic Strategy Panel, and that all sites are willing
and able to support academic offerings as outlined in the request for
proposals.
(d) The California Virtual Campus shall ensure that pilot project
participants have access to adequate technical and operational
support from an individual or entity under contract with the
California Virtual Campus with expertise in the operation and
management of community-based organizations to enable the site to
successfully meet obligations set forth in the memorandum of
understanding.
(e) On or before July 1, 2013, the lead agency for the California
Virtual Campus shall contract for an independent evaluation, as
approved by the board, and shall submit a report to the Public
Utilities Commission, or its designee, that documents the extent to
which the California Virtual Campus' joint efforts with the 10
community-based organizations have achieved all of the following:
(1) Increased the range of offerings available at each site to
address the digital divide in accordance with subdivision (e) of
Section 280.5 of the Public Utilities Code.
(2) Provided for equity of access to high-speed communications
networks, the Internet, and other services that provide social
benefits in accordance with the legislative findings and declarations
contained in Section 871.7 of the Public Utilities Code, including,
but not necessarily limited to, all of the following:
(A) Improving the quality of life among the residents of
California.
(B) Expanding access to public and private resources for
education, training, and commerce.
(C) Increasing access to public resources enhancing public health
and safety.
(D) Assisting in bridging the digital divide through expanded
access to new technologies by low-income, disabled, or otherwise
disadvantaged Californians.
(E) Shifting traffic patterns by enabling telecommuting, thereby
helping to improve air quality in all areas of the state and
mitigating the need for highway expansion.
(3) Supported participation in online offerings provided by the
California Virtual Campus in accordance with Section 78910.10.
(f) In the event that the board determines that the joint efforts
of the California Virtual Campus and the community-based
organizations have been successful pursuant to subdivision (e), the
board shall submit a plan to the Legislature and the Governor by
January 1, 2015, which contains recommendations for expanding the
number of sites partnering with the California Virtual Campus,
conditions for expansion, and recommendations for ways of addressing
any potential funding requirements.
(g) Community college local assistance expenditures to extend
high-speed network connectivity to community-based organizations that
partner with community colleges for instructional delivery pursuant
to this section shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000).

78910.20. (a) The California Virtual Campus may form a business
advisory group to assist with the development of a plan which
outlines methods for the California Virtual Campus and the entities
listed in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 78910.10 to
work together to strengthen the preparation of a diverse and highly
skilled science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce,
and to address workforce shortages. The plan shall identify existing
resources and programs that will be more accessible due to the use of
network enabled technologies, and methods that are effective due to
the use of network enabled technologies.
(b) By March 1, 2009, the California Virtual Campus may submit the
plan developed in accordance with subdivision (a) to the board, the
Legislature, and the Governor.

78910.25. No provision of this article shall apply to the
University of California except to the extent that the Regents of the
University of California, by appropriate resolution, make the
provision applicable.

78910.30. This article shall remain in effect until January 1,
2014, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2014, deletes or extends
that date.