OHIO BOARD OF REGENTS
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OHIO BOARD OF REGENTS |
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File Description
The Distance Learning Course Sections (DS) file follows submission of the Distance Learning Course Offerings (DO) file. The DS provides detail about the course sections listed in the OhioLearns! on-line course catalogue offered via distance education as described in the DO.
Courses described in the Distance Learning Course Sections (DS) file submission should be those that are offered to students regardless of the institution of enrollment, as well as those distance education courses restricted to students enrolled at the institution.
The Distance Learning Course Sections (DS) file should be submitted before the beginning of each term.
Courses described in the Distance Learning Course Sections (DS) file submission must first be reported in the Distance Learning Course Offerings (DO) submission. Course sections for degree credit courses (i.e., not noncredit courses) reported in the DS must be reported in the Course Enrollment (CN) and the Course Sections Taught (ST) files submitted at the end of the term.
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Field Names |
Field Attributes and Procedures |
Data Format |
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Campus |
Enter a campus code from Institution/Campus Codes. |
Alphabetic |
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Year |
Enter the year in which the course section will be offered. |
Numeric |
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Term |
Enter the term in which the course section will be offered |
Alphabetic |
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Course Identifier |
Enter the permanent identifier assigned by the institution which distinguishes this course from all others offered by the institution. If the course is used for degree credit the course identifier must match a course identifier reported in the Course Inventory (CI) file for the same year and term. |
Alphanumeric |
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Section Identifier |
Enter the identifier assigned by the institution which, in a given term, distinguishes among one or more sections, classes or offerings of the same course. If the course section is for a degree credit course, then the Section Identifier must match the Section Identifier reported in the Course Enrollment (CN) file for the same year and term. |
Alphanumeric |
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Call Number (Optional) |
If there is a separate call number for the course enter it here. |
Alphanumeric |
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Section Limit |
Enter the maximum number of students allowed to enroll in the course section. If there is no limit, enter "None". If the limit is unknown, leave blank. |
Numeric |
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Enter “Y” if the course section or a portion of the course section is offered via the Internet. Otherwise, enter “N” |
Alphabetic |
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Enter “Y” if the course or a portion of the course is offered via CD-ROM/CD-DVD. Otherwise, enter “N” |
Alphabetic |
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Enter “Y” if the course or a portion of the course if offered via Video Tape. Otherwise, enter “N” |
Alphabetic |
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Enter “Y” if the course or a portion of the course is offered via Interactive Video. Otherwise, enter “N” |
Alphabetic |
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Enter “Y” if the course or a portion of the course is offered via a television broadcast. Otherwise, enter “N” |
Alphabetic |
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Enter “Y” if the course or a portion of the course is offered via correspondence. Otherwise, enter “N” |
Alphabetic |
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Enter “Y” if the course or a portion of the course is offered via another method. Otherwise, enter “N” |
Alphabetic |
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Enter the fee charged to in-state residents. |
Numeric |
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| In-District Fee | Enter the fee charged to students residing within the district of the institution. If this does not apply, leave blank. |
Numeric |
| Out of State Fee | Enter the fee charged to students that are not residents of Ohio. |
Numeric |
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Registration Starts |
Enter day on which registration starts for the course. Enter date as follows: MMDDYYYY. If the registration for this section has no specified start date, enter "Anytime". If the start date is unknown, leave blank. |
Numeric |
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Registration Ends |
Enter day on which registration ends for the course. Enter date as follows: MMDDYYYY. If the registration for this section has no specified end date, enter "None". If the end date is unknown, leave blank. |
Numeric |
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Section Starts |
Enter the day on which the course section starts. Enter the date as follows: MMDDYYYY. If the section has no specified start date, enter "Anytime". If the start date is unknown, leave blank. |
Numeric |
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Section Ends |
Enter the day on which the course section ends. Enter the date as follows: MMDDYYYY. If the section has no specified end date, enter "None". If the end date is unknown, leave blank. |
Numeric |
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Enter “Y” if the course section should be listed in the OhioLearns! Course Catalog. Enter “N” if the course should not be listed in the catalog. |
Alphabetic |
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Enter the URL that students can use to learn more about the course section. |
Alphanumeric |
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Site Visit |
Enter “N” if the course does NOT require a visit to the campus. Otherwise, enter “Y” |
Alphabetic |
| Delete Switch | Enter “Y” if the record is to be deleted from the database. Otherwise, enter “N” |
Alphabetic |
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Enter any necessary comments. Click on comments or see additional explanations below to submit a Section Title and/or Description. |
Alphanumeric |
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Method(s) of Communication between Instructors and Students |
Enter the intended method(s) of communications between the instructor(s) and the students. If none, enter “NA” |
Alphanumeric |
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Enter the number or number of types of contacts that the student will have on or with the host campus. If none, enter “NA” |
Alphanumeric |
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Enter the name of the instructor teaching the course. If there is more than one instructor name separate each with a semicolon (;). If none, enter “NA” |
Alphanumeric |
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| Technical Requirements for Participation | Enter the technical specifications required to participate in this course only if they are different from what you have posted for all distance courses on your Web course transition page made on the fly. If there are no differences, enter "NA" |
Alphanumeric |
| Instructor's Contact Information | Enter the instructor's email address for the course section. If the instructor cannot be identified or does not wish to be contacted through email, enter "NA" |
Alphanumeric |
Data reporters have two options with this file submission. They can pad out the fields to include the appropriate number of characters (example: if the URL has only 28 characters, it would need to be padded out to 100 characters). The second option is to enter a tilde (~) between each field to delimit the fields (example: sectionidentifier~callnumber~sectionlimit). Once a tilde has been used in a record as the field delimiter, it is the only delimiter that can be used to separate the fields.
Web: Courses offered via the Internet, usually requiring minimal or no on-campus visits by the student. If campus visits are required, this information must be listed on the OLN transitional web page.
CD-ROM/CD-DVD: Courses primarily using CD-ROM/CD-DVD. If other delivery methods are also required, please note this information on the OLN transitional web page so that the student is informed. Specify if the CD-ROM is formatted to use with PC Windows, Macintosh or another operating system.
Video Tape: Courses using videotapes as means of delivery. If other delivery methods are also required, please note this information on the OLN transitional web page.
Video Conference: Students shall interact with the instructor and class via live video. This delivery method probably requires a visit to a video site; information on these sites should be listed on the OLN transitional web page if the course section is listed in the OLN catalog.
Television Broadcast: Courses offered on broadcast television. Please specify if there are other delivery method requirements to this course on the OLN transitional web page. If applicable, list the times the broadcast is offered.
Correspondence: A correspondence course.
Other Method of Delivery: If there is a method of delivery for the course or a portion that is not otherwise mentioned, please enter Y and provide an explanation in the comments field below.
Fees: Fee information should be entered as six characters with the last 2 character positions representing cents. Note that the field should be right justified and zero-filled to the left. For instance, a course fee of $123.45 would be entered as “012345”; a course fee of $1,234.56 would be entered as “123456.”
Section Open: Course sections designated as “Open” will be listed in the OLN course catalog. Courses designated as not open will not be listed in the OLN catalog.
Transition URL: The transition URL field contains the web address of the OLN transitional web page. Data entered into this field should follow standard web address format, as in “www.xxxx.xxx/xxxx.” Do not enter “http://” as the first part of the URL. Note that a URL for the course section should be entered here only if there is no URL for the course reported in the Distance Learning Course Offerings (DO) file submission, and there is a URL to describe the course section. If you are using the “Transition Pages on the Fly” feature, leave this field blank.
Comments: There are two options for this field. The first is that it can be an optional field for containing internal notes that are never seen by catalog users. If the user has entered “Other Method of Course Delivery” as a course delivery method then an explanation of that alternative course delivery method should be provided in this field.
The second option allows you to use this field to report a title and description for the course section only if it differs from the title and course description as reported in the DO file. You must follow these directions precisely to ensure that the section title and section description are displayed correctly on OhioLearns!
Section Title
Use the number symbol to delimit your section title. A section title of
"Introduction to Biology" should be reported as #Introduction to Biology#
Section Description
Use the carat symbol to delimit your section description. A section
description of "This course deals with biological processes...for all." should
be reported as
^This course deals with biological processes...for all.^
Therefore, your
record would look like this if you are submitting a section title and section
description in a tilde-delimited record:
~#Section Title Goes Here#^Section Description Goes Here^~
If you are using fixed width records, make sure to include the proper number of spaces at the end of the title and/or description so that the field is 250 characters long.
Frequency of On-site Communication: This field should be used to denote the type and number of times that a student can expect to have contact with the host campus including the number of times the student may be required to travel to campus for examinations and projects. If no on-site communications occur or if the type and frequency of communications are unknown, enter “NA”
Instructor Name: If there are multiple instructors for a course section each name should be separated with a comma (,). If the instructor is not known, or the name cannot be provided, enter “NA”
Technical Requirements for Participation: This field should only be used if the course section has unique technical requirements different from your institution's general technology requirements for distance learning. These requirements should be identified in the Institutional Data fields on the OLN server site (http://www.ohiolearns.org/catadm/maint.php), under the specific field labeled Technology. If there are no unique requirements, enter "NA"
Contact Information: This field should only be used to link students with a specific instructor of a course through an email address. This field should not be confused with the Institution contact email field found in the Institutional Data fields on the OLN server site at http://www.ohiolearns.org/catadm/maint.php. If there is not a contact email, enter "NA"
File Header Record
The first record of each file is a header record formatted as described in http://regents.ohio.gov/hei/datasubdoc/general/fileheader.html
The File Identifier to be used for this file is DS.
The Year is the current calendar year.
The Term is "NA".
View Edit and Load Specifications
http://regents.ohio.gov/hei/datasubdoc/oln/production/dsfile.html
Last updated February 23, 2004