Assuring Quality in Online Course Delivery

2012 ◽  
pp. 28-41
Author(s):  
Julia M. Matuga ◽  
Deborah Wooldridge ◽  
Sandra Poirier
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Cultural Issue ◽  
Learning And Teaching

This paper examines the critical issue of assuring quality online course delivery by examining four key components of online teaching and learning. The topic of course delivery is viewed as a cultural issue that permeates processes from the design of an online course to its evaluation. First, the authors examine and review key components of and tools for designing high impact online courses that support student learning. Second, in this paper, the authors provide suggestions for faculty teaching online courses to assist in creating high quality online courses that supports teaching and, consequently, facilitates opportunities for student learning. Quality online course delivery is also contingent on the support of faculty by administration. Lastly, this paper provides suggestions for conducting course evaluation and feedback loops for the continual improvement of online learning and teaching. These four components are essential elements in assuring quality online courses.

Assuring Quality in Online Course Delivery

2012 ◽  
pp. 423-436
Author(s):  
Julia M. Matuga ◽  
Deborah Wooldridge ◽  
Sandra Poirier
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Cultural Issue ◽  
Learning And Teaching

This chapter focuses upon the critical issue of assuring quality online course delivery by examining four key components of online teaching and learning. The topic of course delivery within this article is viewed as a cultural issue that permeates processes from the design of an online course to the evaluation of an online course. First, this chapter will examine and review key components of, and tools for designing high impact online courses that support student learning. Second, this chapter will provide suggestions for faculty teaching online courses to assist in creating high quality online courses that supports teaching and, consequently, facilitates opportunities for student learning. Quality online course delivery is also contingent upon the support of faculty by administration. Lastly, this chapter will provide suggestions for conducting course evaluation and a feedback loops the for continual improvement of the online learning and teaching. These four components are essential elements in assuring quality online courses.

Assuring Quality in Online Course Delivery

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia M. Matuga ◽  
Deborah Wooldridge ◽  
Sandra Poirier
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Cultural Issue

This paper examines the critical issue of assuring quality online course delivery by examining four key components of online teaching and learning. The topic of course delivery is viewed as a cultural issue that permeates processes from the design of an online course to its evaluation. First, the authors examine and review key components of and tools for designing high impact online courses that support student learning. Second, in this paper, the authors provide suggestions for faculty teaching online courses to assist in creating high quality online courses that supports teaching and, consequently, facilitates opportunities for student learning. Quality online course delivery is also contingent on the support of faculty by administration. Lastly, this paper provides suggestions for conducting course evaluation and feedback loops for the continual improvement of online learning and teaching. These four components are essential elements in assuring quality online courses.

Online Learning and Quality Practice With Administrative Support and Collaboration

2021 ◽  
pp. 837-854
Author(s):  
Deborah G. Wooldridge ◽  
Sandra Poirier ◽  
Julia M. Matuga
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Administrative Support ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Cultural Issue ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Demand For Education ◽  
Faculty Teaching

Higher education institutions must innovate and develop new modes of learning, both formal and informal, that meet the demands of the knowledge-driven economy. There is a growing demand for education and a push for non-traditional ways of delivering knowledge and learning. This chapter begins by identifying the technological changes that are affecting all societies and how these changes will specifically impact postsecondary education. The topic of course delivery is viewed as a cultural issue that permeates processes from the design of an online course to the evaluation of an online course. This chapter will examine and review key components of and tools for designing high impact online courses that support student learning and provide suggestions for faculty teaching online courses to assist in creating high-quality online courses that support teaching and, consequently, facilitate opportunities for student learning.

scholarly journals Should Instructors Require Discussion in Online Courses? Effects of Online Discussion on Community of Inquiry, Learner Time, Satisfaction, and Achievement

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moon-Heum Cho ◽  
Scott Tobias
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Community Of Inquiry ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Discussion ◽  
Teaching Presence ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Significant Difference

<p class="Style2">Online discussion is a commonly used means to promote student understanding of a topic and to facilitate social interaction among students or between students and instructor; however, its effects on student learning in online learning environments have rarely been investigated.  The purpose of this study was to examine the role of online discussion in student learning experiences measured with community of inquiry, learner time, satisfaction, and achievement.  One instructor taught the same online course for three consecutive semesters using three different conditions.  During one semester enrolled students engaged in no discussion, during another semester they engaged in discussion without instructor participation, and in the remaining semester they engaged in discussion with active instructor participation.  No significant differences were found among conditions in cognitive presence and the instructor’s teaching presence, whereas significant difference was found in social presence among conditions.  No significant differences among conditions were found time spent on Blackboard, course satisfaction, and student achievement.  Implications for online teaching and learning as well as for designing an online course conclude the paper.</p>

Honest Communication in Online Learning

2009 ◽  
pp. 619-624
Author(s):  
Kellie A. Shumack
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
Student Cheating ◽  
Future Of Education

Online learning promises much for the present and the future of education because it bridges the gap of distance and time (Valentine, 2002). Students have doors opened wide because of online courses, and in many ways, these opportunities bring in an equalizing quality for those who want to be educated. The bottom line is that the “convenience of time and space” (Valentine, 2002, p. 2) makes online courses an appealing option. Online courses come under the general heading of “distance education.” Pallof and Pratt (2001, p. 5) define distance education as “an approach to teaching and learning that utilizes Internet technologies to communicate and collaborate in an educational context.” This definition is what online courses are today. Some common modes of delivery include WebCT, Blackboard, Convene, and eCollege. Technology or these authoring tools are “not the ‘be all and end all’ of the online course. [They] are merely the vehicle for course delivery” (Pallof & Pratt, 2001, p. 49). As with many things, there are also some potentially negative aspects possible with online learning. This progressive form of instruction is not impervious to problems with student cheating, and in fact, cheating is often considered easier in online courses (Rowe, 2004). The purpose of this paper is to examine plagiarism within the different elements of online learning courses and investigate what can be done about it. Before examining plagiarism, a case for integrity should be made.

Quality Online Learning in Higher Education

2019 ◽  
pp. 663-679
Author(s):  
Deborah G. Wooldridge ◽  
Sandra Poirier ◽  
Julia M. Matuga
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Traditional Education ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Technological Changes ◽  
Cultural Issue

Traditional education systems alone, despite the essential role they have played and will continue to play in learning, are simply not capable of serving the world's growing and changing needs. The knowledge explosion, driven by the power of the network to connect people and spread ideas, has changed the very nature of learning. We must innovate and develop new modes of learning, both formal and informal, that meet the demands of the knowledge-driven economy in this information age. This chapter begins by identifying the technological changes that are affecting all societies and how these changes will specifically impact postsecondary education. The topic of course delivery within this chapter is viewed as a cultural issue that permeates processes from the design of an online course to the evaluation of an online course.

Leveraging Teaching Presence in Online Courses

2016 ◽  
pp. 113-137
Author(s):  
Kun Huang ◽  
Sang Joon Lee ◽  
Ashley Dugan
Keyword(s):  
Community Of Inquiry ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Teaching Presence ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Research And Practice

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework has been widely used to guide the research and practice of online courses. In the CoI framework, three essential elements were identified to be critical for a successful online learning experience: social, cognitive, and teaching presences. While the three presences are overlapping and interdependent, teaching presence is known to be key to the creation of a community of inquiry by addressing cognitive and social issues. Starting with an overview of the CoI framework, this chapter mainly focuses on teaching presence and its two dimensions: instructional design and organization and directed facilitation. Specific strategies and examples for each dimension to leveraging teaching presence in a technology-rich online course are presented and described. In addition, a student's learning experience in the course is also shared to provide a student's perspective of the strategies.

Designing and Teaching for Student Engagement in Online Courses Through UDL

2020 ◽  
pp. 314-329
Author(s):  
Ruby L. Owiny ◽  
Elizabeth Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Learning Modules ◽  
Potential Barriers ◽  
Design For Learning

Any course must be goal-focused and consider the needs of all learners. However, online courses require instructors to be proactive in planning for learning. Recruiting and sustaining engagement in an online course must be carefully considered and planned for during all learning modules or units. This chapter addresses how to keep students engaged by considering their affect, the general way students feel toward their learning. Affect impacts motivation, which in turn can impact how a student persists in a course. The Universal Design for Learning principle of engagement addresses the affect through three guidelines. These guidelines are explained in this chapter with potential barriers to student learning and motivation explained as well. Furthermore, possible solutions are provided to give readers examples of ways in which they might reduce or remove barriers to engagement in their online courses.

scholarly journals Assessing experiences with online educational videos: Converting multiple constructed responses to quantifiable data

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David J Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Online Courses ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Qualitative Survey ◽  
Educational Videos ◽  
Constructed Responses ◽  
To Come ◽  
Online Educators

<p>Online educational videos disseminated content for a university pre-service teacher internship program. Placed within an online course management system, the videos were accessed by 202 interns located in several Western U.S. states. To ascertain the interns’ subjective experiences of the online course and videos to assist in the evaluation of the course, the researcher analyzed qualitative survey data in the form of constructed response items using a new qualitative-to-quantitative protocol. Based on phenomenological and grounded theory methods, this protocol was designed to handle the large amount of subjective constructed responses, allowing the inductive understanding of the overall experiences of a common phenomenon. The responses provided critical information that is useful for instructional designers, online educators, and educational video producers. The data suggest:</p><p>1) Universities must carefully consider video hosting options to ensure access.</p><p>2) Online videos should be carefully planned to create high quality, concise videos of less than ten minutes in length, yet contain enough educational content to reduce the overall number of required videos.</p><p>3) Students appreciate the flexibility online course delivery offered in terms of scheduling and eliminating the need to come to campus to attend seminars.</p><p>4) Self-paced online courses require progress indicators to alleviate confusion.</p>

scholarly journals Increasing complexities: Teaching public policy in the age of discontent

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-45
Author(s):  
Yvonne Haigh
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Qualitative Survey ◽  
Teaching And Learning Environment ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Student Course Evaluation

This paper draws on nine years of undergraduate student course evaluation surveys to explore learning and teaching practices in an introductory public policy course in Australia. The paper situates student responses in terms of an increasingly complex teaching and learning environment. The student cohort includes a diverse group of arts, law, business and technology-based undergraduates. The paper explores both quantitative and qualitative survey data in order to draw out students’ perceptions and views on teaching, learning and their engagement with public policy. The paper considers some of the ways students grapple with increasing levels of complexity, their perceptions of interactive and participatory teaching strategies as tools for learning, and their views around enhancing university learning. The paper provides a set of reflections that may enhance student experiences in increasingly complex environments.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document