A professor and a consultant share their experiences of how several small, private colleges are using QM to build an online program from scratch—not only utilizing QM as a tool for evaluating online courses but as the framework to strategically plan the transition of courses from traditional on-ground to online. Their process involves “The Four I’s”: Infrastructure (technology capacity, talent and tools), Initiative (purpose), Implementation (faculty development, owner support) and Instruction (consistent, deliverable course material).
In Tanya Joosten’s* keynote address at the March 2015 QM Regional Conference, she challenged us to move beyond the question of what is “better”—online or face-to-face--to changing what we are doing in all classes to ensure quality and student success. Connecting with students digitally is key to their academic and professional success.
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Kay Shattuck, Director of Research at Quality Matters, points out the impact that QM can have throughout an institution. “Information has emerged on the impact participation in the QM program has beyond improving the design of a single course.” For instance, one study (Aman, 2009) found there was a “carryover effect to nonreviewed courses when an institution is actively participating in the QM peer review process . . .. Students in both QM-reviewed and non-reviewed courses were more satisfied than those at non-QM participating institutions.” QM provides a driving force and theoretical basis for the development of high quality online courses and the systems
