Abstract
One of the dilemmas faced by today’s faculty is assuring quality in online courses. As one solution to that dilemma, Quality Matters (QM), a program of MarylandOnline, built a rubric of design standards informed by existing research literature and best practices. The rubric was implemented within a faculty-centred, peer review process in which colleagues share their expertise to facilitate course design improvements and to achieve an established level of quality in online course design. This article will describe the basic tenets and processes of QM as an inter-institutional quality assurance program for online learning.
Highlights
Quality in online courses need not be caught in the riptides that can result from the continuing waves of educational refocusing
At the 2009 Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education conference in New Brunswick, Alex Lowry kicked off the discussion of dilemmas and problem-solving in today’s education by presenting a 2 x 2 problem/solution dilemma matrix. While it is not the purpose of this article to critique Quality Matters (QM)’s development from the Lowry model, I suggest that distance educator members of MarylandOnline envisioned a solution to the challenge of assuring quality in online courses
This confirms that the goal is for online faculty to assist peers in improving the design of their fully online or online components of blended courses
Summary
Quality in online courses need not be caught in the riptides that can result from the continuing waves of educational refocusing. Moore and Kearsley’s (1996, 2005) widely cited definition points out that distance education is much more than piping traditional classroom courses through a communication conduit, such as the Internet They define distance education as “planned learning that normally occurs in a different place from teaching, requiring special course design and instruction techniques, communication through various technologies, and special organizational and administrative arrangements” At the 2009 Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education conference in New Brunswick, Alex Lowry kicked off the discussion of dilemmas and problem-solving in today’s education by presenting a 2 x 2 problem/solution dilemma matrix While it is not the purpose of this article to critique QM’s development from the Lowry model, I suggest that distance educator members of MarylandOnline envisioned a solution to the challenge of assuring quality in online courses. The 2008-2010 version of the rubric includes eight general and 40 specific standards. The eight general standards include: 1. Course overview and introduction
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