By Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
You’ve probably noticed changes in your online courses over the last few years. This is partly due to new software, but it’s also due to changing ideas about how to assure quality in an online course. Knowing the behind-the-scenes debates may help you understand the rationale behind some of the activities and the structure of your courses.
When online programs first began establishing quality standards, organizations such as the Sloan Consortium began to put together sets of best practices, many programs followed. The sets of best practices were expanded as well, with new sets of best practices, such as those found at Quality Matters leading the way. Later, however, some institutions shifted their focus to outcomes assessment, which meant moving the focus from the institution to the learner.
If you’re taking courses from two different online institutions, or if you’ve noticed a change in the way that courses are presented, you may be witnessing the competition between two distinct philosophies of measuring quality in an online course.
Best Practices. If your institution follows a best practices approach, there is a good chance that they are following a very clear and comprehensive set of guidelines used in course development and administration.
In addition to guidelines set out by the Sloan Consortium (the Five Pillars), there are also checklists which are provided by other online quality assurance associations, such as Quality Matters, located at http://www.qualitymatters.org.
In a best practices approach, instructional designers will build courses and
Present course content clearly.
Organize and present required work, quizzes, and assessments clearly.
Reinforce learning styles with supplemental content.
Motivate with content, by making the readings, presentations, audio, and video very engaging.
Motivate with collaboration by setting up effective discussion boards and collaborations.
Provide library and supporting materials.
Provide learner and faculty support.
Make sure that financial resources are adequate.
Outcomes Assessment. With an outcomes assessment approach, the focus is on learner performance. It is important to the eLearning provider to make sure that, by the end of the course, learners are able to demonstrate skills, knowledge of the content, critical thinking skills, and other desired outcomes in measurable ways. The outcomes may involve quizzes, standardized testing, writing papers, a capstone project, or a collaborative endeavor.
Because the organization is under so much pressure to produce students who will be able to perform, a subtle shift often occurs in the learning process. Instead of focusing so much on the exploration of content, or the “knowledge for knowledge’s sake” approach, students start demanding practice tests, review items, and focused notes that will help them attain the grade they want or need when they take their final tests.
As the instructional designer evaluates the learning design, he/she scrutinizes the eLearning elements to assure the following:
eLearning elements engage, but never go into the realm of info-tainment.
Instructional activities and elements flow to learning activities.
Instructional activities provide opportunities to practice and review.
Instructional elements create file cabinets, or schema, for the learner, to facilitate learning and recall.
Instructional elements provide opportunities to situate one’s knowledge in order to achieve deeper learning, and to apply the knowledge in activities that require critical thinking.
Outcomes assessment-based approaches often have a more urgent need to accommodate learning styles because all students must demonstrate high performance on standardized tests, regardless of individual difference. As a result, designers often go the extra mile to provide multiple types of learning activities, concrete examples and situations, innovative activities, and mobile learning. Further, the more enlightened programs set up frameworks for the development of learning communities.
What this means for you as an online learner is that in the future, you’ll probably have even more opportunities to gain support and information from your instructor and fellow online learners. You’ll have more opportunities to practice the exams and quizzes, and you’ll probably feel more connected and comfortable about your coursework and your course requirements.
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