Abstract:

Improving online course design is one of the current foci of research and best practices in eLearning and distance learning in USA. Quality Matters (QM), a continuous improvement program for assuring the design quality of online courses and online components of blended courses, was developed in the early 2000s under such expectations. The Quality Matters Program is an outgrowth of a 2003-2006 FIPSE (U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post-secondary Education) grant to MarylandOnline for development of a replicable pathway for an inter-institutional system of assuring quality in online courses. Quality Matters, the guideline used by peer review team of online instructors to assess and improve the design of online courses, includes a specific and rigorous process of online instructors reviewing the design of a peer’s online course and providing recommendations for improvement of the course design. A determination is made as to when the course design meets established QM thresholds of quality. The QM Rubric can also be used to build a self-review, prior to requesting a peer review. Whether the purpose is a self-review or peer review, Quality Matters continues to be informed by analysis of ongoing scholarly research. Less than a decade after the development of QM, research is emerging on its impact in higher education.

This presentation will provide an overview of the QM rubric standards, including guidelines and recommendations for enhancing online course design through a process of either self-review or peer review.

Keywords:

e-learning, Distance Learning, Online Course Design, Quality Matters, QM Rubric.