Nearly 6,000 postsecondary institutions in the U.S. were awarded federal student aid in the 2023-2024 school year. To continue receiving Title IV financial support, it’s imperative that institutions prioritize RSI compliance in order to remain eligible. Starting July 2021, the Department of Education (DOE) mandated particular RSI criteria in the effort to distinguish distance education courses from ineligible correspondence courses.
Though policy mandates can seem intimidating at first, this one’s all about prioritizing excellence. Let’s take a look at the importance of RSI in online learning and how WeVideo’s (and PlayPosit by WeVideo's) interactive video tools help facilitate compliance.
What is RSI?
Regular and substantive interactions (RSI) is the framework that federal financial aid programs and accreditation entities use to ensure meaningful and instructor-initiated engagement between faculty and students on a predictable schedule. The goal is to enhance the quality of online education by implementing at least two of the following substantive interactions:
- Providing direct instruction
- Assessing or providing feedback on coursework
- Providing information or responding to questions about course content
- Facilitating group discussions
- Other instructional activities approved by the institution’s or program’s accrediting agency
Ultimately, RSI regulations require that online courses are actively engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment. To do this effectively, the interactions must:
- Be led by a qualified instructor
- Occur regularly and predictably
- Be academic in nature
- Involve substantive engagement
While this may sound intuitive — and in many ways, it is — maintaining RSI compliance is nuanced. Let’s take a look at some types of interactions that distinguish RSI compliance from non-compliance in online learning.
Examples of RSI
Keeping the four main criteria mentioned above in mind, here are some examples of RSI-compliant strategies:
- Instructor moderation and response
- Actively facilitating online discussions, Q&A forums, polls, quizzes, and surveys
- Providing timely, personalized feedback
- Use of video and video platforms for lectures, discussions, and instructor presence
- Posting weekly announcements or updates about course material
- Initiating required course review sessions facilitated by the instructor
- Requesting Zoom meetings or conferences with students for personalized assessments
Examples of RSI non-compliance
Non-compliance can result in a loss of student funding and institutional fines. Here are some examples of RSI non-compliant strategies:
- Purely student-initiated interactions (like emails or dropping into office hours)
- One-time debrief sessions
- Supplemental readings or webinars
- Non-facilitated discussion forums
As you can see from each category, it’s evident that RSI strategies hold a more active learning approach, whereas being non-compliant lends itself to a more passive learning model.
“Compliance” language aside, fueling sustainable learner engagement should always be a top priority. Some benefits to implementing effective RSI strategies?
- Enhanced student engagement, motivation, and investment in their studies
- Improved learning outcomes and academic performance
- Increased student satisfaction and persistence
- Increased sense of community and connection
More and more educators are discovering the power of video in the classroom to promote and maintain learner engagement. Let’s look at how WeVideo helps educators deliver direct instruction below.
Top 5 ways to facilitate RSI with WeVideo
Though RSI strategies are clearly beneficial, their demands can fall heavily on faculty to implement them. The time, technology, and training investment required to document and scale can be stressful without the right support. That’s where WeVideo comes in.
WeVideo’s interactive video platform helps educators transform passive learning into measurable learning experiences, making RSI compliance an easy byproduct for users.
Here are some ways WeVideo’s tools help educators facilitate RSI strategies:
1. Interactive video content
Easily deliver quality content by making any course interactive! Whether for synchronous or asynchronous courses, customize timed questions, insert polls, mid-video quizzes, multiple-choice tests, Q&A, reflective pauses, and more to ensure engagement every time.
2. Real-time collaboration tools
Looking to scale across instructional design teams, departments, or institutions? Do so faster with multi-user collaboration tools. Share lesson ideas from the Assignment Ideas Library, save time with ready-made templates, streamline workflows, and scale success in no time.
3. Robust analytics
Track, measure, and iterate progress for course content with powerful analytics tools. Identify learner gaps, provide personalized feedback, and let data drive your decisions.
4. Flexible course content
WeVideo’s branched pathways make it easy to modularize courses for every learning style and environment. Customize sequenced course playlists designed to meet everyone at their comprehension level, test retention with interactive features, then prove progress with analytics.
5. Seamless LMS integration
WeVideo syncs seamlessly with learning management systems like Canvas, Schoology, Moodle, Blackboard, ClassLink, and tons more. Stressed about it? Don’t be! Let us do the heavy lifting. Chat with us to see how interactive video can support your RSI goals.
Just as RSI strategies exist to promote learner engagement, performance, and retention, WeVideo shares this mission. Easily create retention-boosting content, stay RSI compliant, and optimize curricula for everyone with WeVideo.