We have been asked to provide several workshops about e-Learning Quality. So far we’ve offered these workshops in Minnesota, Michigan, and North Dakota. The feedback has been extremely positive and the connections made have been valuable and long-lasting. The topic of e-Learning quality has certainly been a bit of a hot button for quite some tiem now, and it doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.

During these workshops we try to answer questions such as:

1. What does the word “quality” mean in the context of online learning?
2. How do you recognize quality when you see it?
3. What steps can we take to improve our quality of online teaching and learning?
4. Does QualityMatters ™ pretty much cover all the bases?

It is that last question where we tend to deviate from the heavily beaten path in higher ed. The heavily beaten path suggests that if you are working with the QualityMatters team or have a similar rubric/process/system in place, then you are dealing with the questions related to quality of online learning.

My response is a rather loud “NO, YOU’RE NOT!”

But then I take the time to explain what I mean by that. The QualityMatters-approach to things is very good. It’s solid, it’s based on research, it’s been tested and improved over time. IT’S GOOD!!

But.

And that’s a really big but.

QualityMatters and similar things out there primarily focus (exclusively, maybe?) on the design of online courses. Having high quality course design is no trivial matter and it is an important component to the quest for quality in online learning. However, in my opinion, it is the third most important aspect of online course quality. Those top three aspects are, in order:

1. Quality of learning (are students achieving at a high level?)
2. Quality of teaching (are faculty teaching at a high level?)
3. Quality of course design.

If I can get number one and number two (especially number one), then I can live without number three. Ideally, it would be best to have all three, and you can argue that the three are generally very inter-related and not so easy to separate as a numbered list might suggest.

So, in our workshops we look at all three of these aspects. We start with course design using tools similar to QualityMatters (based in fact on their shared first version of the QM rubric), then we discuss assessment of online learning achievement especially at the level of program outcomes and college-wide outcomes, and then we finish with tools related to assessing the quality of instruction through performance evaluation of faculty work.

To close, let me try to draw the distinction with an example. The QM rubric has (and most similar rubrics have) a standard that goes something like this:

• Learning activities foster instructor-student, content-student, and if appropriate to the course, student-student interaction.

So, the course design looks at whether the course is structured in a way that is intended to provide for this interaction. However, through the assessments of student learning we want to find out whether the interaction actually leads to increased learning by the students. If not, why require it? Similarly, in the faculty evaluation stage we want to see whether the instructor is actually interacting with the students (assuming that is our expectation). Course design tells you that it should happen – performance evaluation tells you whether it IS happening.

So yes, we ARE fans of QualityMatters. Course design is a good place to START your journey toward online learning quality – but it is NOT the place to finish your journey.

EAT-IT!

Emerging

Academic

Technologies and

Instructional

Techniques

For two days in August we will be examining the state of the art in educational uses of new and emerging technologies in education. Come to the campus of Inver Hills Community College in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota (southeast suburb of St. Paul) for a focused conference that will provide practical teaching tips and great ideas to prepare you for the start of school in the fall.

Wednesday & Thursday, August 12 & 13, 2009 – Full Agenda Available

This is expected to be a participatory conference. Great opportunities for networking, connecting, and engaging with lots of educators from around the region and beyond.

Conference Fee = $200.  Hotel info coming soon.

NOTE: Click the Blue Button at top of page to register for EAT-IT 09.

Call for Proposals:

We will be accepting proposals for concurrent sessions. Deadline for proposals is July 13, although we will start accepting proposals prior to that date. As good ones come in, we will start making arrangements for that session. Submit breakout session proposals here.

Call for Keynotes:

THIS COULD BE A FIRST (or not)! We want to hear from prospective keynote speakers for the conference. Rather than us ask the speakers if they want to provide a keynote for the conference, WE WANT THE SPEAKERS TO MAKE US AN OFFER. Click through for more details.

Uses of Emerging Technologies in Academia:

Potential topics that you might consider include the following:

• Web 2.0 Technologies
• Personal Learning Environments/Networks
• Games for Learning
• Virtual Worlds
• Social Networking
• Mobile Learning
• Open Source Solutions
• Open Education Resources
  
• Don’t be confined by this list, be creative!
  

Co-sponsors:

This conference is being co-sponsored by Innovations in e-Education (LSC) and Inver Hills Community College. blank

CC Flickr Photo by ….Tim

Innovations in e-Education spent an enjoyable two days in Billings, Montana (May 6-7, 2009) for a series of faculty development workshops at Montana State University Billings. Tim Tirrell, Director of e-Learning at MSUB brought in Corinne Hoisington (books authored) and Barry Dahl to work with about 40 faculty members and instructional designers over the two full days. Corinne and Barry started things off with a shared plenary session that was intended to set the stage for the breakout sessions that they would lead over the next day and a half. The theme for the workshop was using free or low-cost technologies to create content for use within Desire2Learn. MSUB switched to D2L only recently and many faculty were looking for new ways that they could add content and create engaging assignments and projects for their students using Web 2.0 tools and similar technologies. (CC Photo: “Breakfast at Stella’s” in Billings by Mike Willis)

Read more about the conference here including the topics covered …

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Great Professional Development Opportunity

This workshop is intended for faculty in higher education who are interested in learning about the fundamentals of good practices in online course design, in addition to a faculty-centered peer review process. The main focus of this workshop deals with the perspective of ensuring high-quality course design for online learning.

Wednesday, May 20 & Thursday, May 21 in Duluth, MN. More info.

e-Learning Performance Evaluation, Assessment, and Quality

This workshop is intended for higher education administrators who are charged with managing e-Learning operations. The main focus of this workshop deals with the questions related to “quality” in online learning. Quality means very different things to different people when it comes to online learning.

Tuesday, May 19 & Wednesday, May 20 in Duluth, MN. Click button for more info.

In this workshop we focus on three different aspects of e-Learning quality:

1. Quality of online learning
2. Quality of online teaching
3. Quality of online course design

For more info, click the button below or go to the May 2009 workshop page.