Guidelines for Quality in Online Course Development

Institutions seeking to attract students to online programs should closely monitor the course development process to ensure quality standards are being met. This case study delves into this process using a systems approach to transactional distance education. A survey of faculty, instructional support personnel, and administrators at a university in the infancy of its online program delivery reveals an interesting difference of opinion among those involved in the course development process. for more details visit to www.guardadsense.com .Higher education is faced with increasing demands from students and corporations to provide online-delivered degrees and programs. Along with creating anywhere-anytime access for these students, colleges and universities must recognize and concentrate on a variety of demands that come with providing online education.

Students in higher education are demanding academic programs that are convenient and accessible, and institutions, not wanting to be left behind in the marketplace, find them embracing online technologies because it is "the new thing." And in their efforts to convert campus-based programs, may overlook quality in the course development phase. Research to date has identified several critical issues that institutions should resolve before implementing a distance education program, including the identification of effective teaching methods and pedagogy, ensuring adequate access, communicating course and technology expectations, and providing the necessary infrastructure support to students and faculty. In trying to meet these demands, institutions should strive to develop clear, articulated objectives and continually assess the effectiveness of their efforts, because efforts that are not grounded in sound educational practice or learning effectiveness will not produce a quality product. Drawn from a study researching quality inputs of distance education programs (institutional support, course development, the teaching/learning process, course structure, student support, faculty support and evaluation and assessment), this article focuses specifically on the importance of the course development process.

Course Development

Institutions should approach online course development with the same academic standards that they use for their on-campus courses; in fact, courses should retain the same curriculum standards and assessments as their campus counterparts. A review of the literature supports several critical guidelines for quality in online course development, specifically:

* Online course content should be subject to the normal process of collegial decision-making.

* Course development should include learning outcomes that are appropriate to the technology.

* Instructional materials need to be reviewed periodically to ensure that they continue to meet program standards.

* Courses should be designed to allow students to engage themselves in analysis, synthesis, and evaluation as part of the course and program requirements.
* The design of the course and the software used should include features that help support and define boundaries for online interaction.
* Features of the course and its platform should support and define the boundaries for online interaction.

To summarize, characteristics identified by students and faculty as having the greatest impact on the perceived effectiveness of the program included: student motivation, faculty dedication to courses/teaching/students, relevance of content to career, ease of access to technical support, and ongoing evaluations of the program and student academic progress. These critical issues which need to be resolved prior to any implementation of distance education programs include the identification of effective teaching methods and pedagogy, ensuring access, communicating expectations, and level of support.

Case Study of a Course Development Process

The basis of this article is drawn from a quantitative case study that was conducted at a large, comprehensive university still in the infancy of its online program. Moore's theories of transactional distance education are used as a theoretical framework, and the study applies a systems analysis to this specific online program. At the time the survey was implemented, the institution was in the early stages of online program development and was interested in establishing a baseline assessment. For more information logon to www.instant-adsense-dollars.com .Administration, faculty, and the instructional support personnel involved in the project sought to benchmark their progress in adopting the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET) quality guidelines. The study covered seven areas considered important to quality online program implementation and asked the overarching question: To what extent does this Internet-delivered education program meet the standards for quality distance education, specifically in the areas of institutional support, course development, the teaching/learning process, course structure, student support, faculty support, and evaluation and assessment. While the results of the study provided the institution with evidence of their online program's strengths and weaknesses, the author found the results of the course development processes to be worthy of further exploration and discussion.