Quality E-Learning Standards
From ElateWiki
Now that e-learning has become more mature, with the first phases of adoption having occurred from the mid-to-late 1990s, educational research and hands-on practice have informed a crop of e-learning quality standards.
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Why Quality Standards?
Establishing e-learning quality standards for colleges, programs, degrees, certificates and individual courses is critical to ensure the optimal designs for the curriculum as well as the teaching. A number of different plans and rubrics have been created to address some of these issues.
These systems need to be general enough to be applicable to a wide range of situations but also sufficiently strict to enforce standards.
Choosing a Framework for Quality
Different organizations and groups will select different standards for creating and establishing quality. Localized situations, budgets, student needs, and leadership will all likely affect these choices and how they are implemented. Having standards offers some guidelines to align course development.
While faculty senates, with their curricular design oversight, will enforce some quality standards, an additional framework is usually seen as necessary to strengthen the building and teaching of online courses and trainings.
Accrediting / Credentialing
Different types of e-learning may fall under the oversight of regulatory bodies--whether they are academic or professional. University-level credit-courses must meet accrediting body standards before the credits are considered "interchangeable" between institutions of higher education. Trainings that fulfill professional development for individuals in the field may have to meet particular quality guidelines and specifications for CEU (continuing education unit) credits.
See Also
Las Positas College's "Best Practices in Designing Online Courses": http://lpc1.clpccd.cc.ca.us/lpc/blackboard/best_practices/
California State University's "Rubric for Online Instruction": http://www.csuchico.edu/celt/roi/index.shtml
Quality Matters Rubric: http://www.qualitymatters.org/Rubric.htm
Quality Matters: http://www.qualitymatters.org/
The Commission on Higher Education, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools' "Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs": http://www.ncahlc.org/download/Best_Pract_DEd.pdf
University of Maryland University College's (UMUC's) "Expectations for Classroom Setup and Online Teaching": http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/ctla/expectations/online_exp_doc_042105.pdf
Johnson County Community College's E-CLASS: Creating a Guide to Online Course Development for Distance Learning Faculty: http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter34/gerson34.html
Kansas State University's Faculty Guidelines: http://www.dce.k-state.edu/faculty/docs/faculty-guidelines.pdf