Evaluate Online Courses on Design, Not Delivery, for Best Results

Madison, Wis.—July 8, 2008 — How do you get distance faculty behind a quality assurance process for online courses? Make the process about course design, not delivery.

Mary Wells, codirector of Quality Matters, shared such a process during the recent rebroadcast of the popular online seminar “Quality Matters: Does Your Online Course Meet the Standards?”

Quality Matters (QM) is an evaluative process that is quickly becoming in the "industry standard" for assessing online course quality. The process is now also being used by the South Dakota Board of Regents, the Dallas County Community College District, and institutions in Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, and New Jersey.

The process focuses on how an online course is built and how that construction can be improved to enhance student learning. But it does not focus on faculty performance in delivering the course, making the whole course evaluation process significantly less threatening to faculty, Wells said. For example, the process might look at the best way to build a discussion board into a class but not how often the faculty member should actually participate in the discussion or what the faculty member should say to students through that discussion board, Wells said.

During the online seminar, Wells also guided participants through applying the standards to one of their own courses.

If you missed the live event, you can order the program in CD or print transcript format, both of which include the presenter's handouts.

Magna Publications is a leading publisher of newsletters and other information products in the higher education segment. Magna also manages onsite and online conferences on topics of interest to higher education.

For more information please contact David Burns, Publisher, Magna Publications, Inc., at 608-227-8109, or dburns@magnapubs.com.