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 1Clayton R. Wright

Assessing the Quality 

of Distance Education Programs:

A Few Items for Your Consideration

Clayton R. Wright, PhD

crwr77@gmail.com

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 2Clayton R. Wright

What is quality?

I need your help to define it.

What is the best cookie?

How do you know that it is the best?

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 3Clayton R. Wright

What cookie would you choose?

Suppose the cookie was a

treat for a deserving child?

Quality means different things to different

people and usually involves a comparison.

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 4Clayton R. Wright

Suppose the cookie was for a childSuppose the cookie was for a child

in a refugee camp or a rural school?in a refugee camp or a rural school?

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 5Clayton R. Wright

Defining quality

• The standard of something when

compared to other similar items.

• The personnel perception of excellence.

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Quality could be defined as:

John Daniels: Quality Assurance and Cross Border Higher Education in theCommonwealth: The Work of the Commonwealth of Learning at the Regulation of Cross-Border Higher Education: Issues and Trends Workshop co-organized by UNESCO and the

Ministry of HRD in New Delhi, India, September 21-22, 2006

“Fitness for purpose

at a minimum cost to society.”

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 7Clayton R. Wright

Why do we measure quality?

• Learner effectiveness or achievement

• Student satisfaction

• Faculty satisfaction

• Accessibility• Student retention and graduation rates

• Accreditation and credit transfers

• Student employability or pursuit of further education

• Cost effectiveness• Accountability to primary stakeholders

• Reputation and credibility (Dhaka)

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By measuring quality,

we obtain an indication

of our success, but

we also determinewhat we need to improve.

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What should be measured?

Quality may have institutional, local, national,

and international perspectives or context of use.

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Refer to the e-Learning Guild’s Handbook of e-Learning Strategy ,

http://www.elearningguild.com/content.cfm?selection=doc.817

Whatever 

is measuredshould touch on

every aspect of the

student experience.

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Approaches to measuring quality 

• The mystical view

• The reputation view

• The resources/input view• The outcomes view

• The value-added view

Valerie Lopes, Professor, Academic e-Learning, Seneca College

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A systematic approachto examining quality 

• Inputs  – resources required to support program

• Processes  – how programs are offered 

• Outputs  – results of the inputs and processes 

• Outcomes  – long-range, qualitative impacts

The above is filtered thru the lens of “fitness

for purpose at a minimum cost to society”.

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If we focus on outcomes, we can ask:

Did we achieve the goals set by our institution? Can we achieve the samebenefits, but for lower costs?

Did we have an impact on our communityand our society for the better?

Are we measuring the right goals?

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 21st Century Learning Outcome Goals(validated by 260 colleges)

• Technology Skills  – computer literacy, internet skills

• Communication  – reading, writing, speaking, and listening

• Computational – reasoning and applying mathematical concepts

• Critical Thinking and Problem-solving  – decision making

• Information Management  – analyzing and organizing info

• Interpersonal – building relationships, developing teams

• Personal  – managing change, learning to learn, taking responsibility

• Community – ethical skills, citizenship, environmental awareness

League for Innovation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. (2000) Learning Outcomes for 

the 21st Century. Mission Viejo, California.

http://www.league.org/league/projects/pew/

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Harvard University: program goals 

• Equip students for participation in civic life 

• Teach students to understand themselves interms of traditions of art, ideas, and values 

• Prepare students to grapple with change 

• Develop students'

understanding of the

ethical dimensions of 

what they say and do

Ehrlich, T. (2007). Carnegie

Foundation Perspectives, Posting #36.

Stanford, CA. Carnegie Foundation for 

the Advancement of Teaching.

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Knowing that:

• By the age of 38, today’s learner will have 10 -14 jobs.

• The amount of technical information doubles every 2 years. 

• We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t existthat will use technologies that haven’t been invented in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.

Isn’t it worth considering measuring non-content related

goals or the goals Harvard has for its programs?

From: Fisch, K. (2007) Shift Happens,

http://youtube.com:80/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U or shifthappens.wikispaces.com

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Measuring quality

• Self assessment and internal peer review

• Review by an internal or external panel 

• Review of various statistics 

that indicate performance and compare the results to benchmarks

• Interviews and surveys of staff, learners, instructors, graduates, employers, and accreditation

bodies

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What challenges can we expect?

• Time  – To establish and implement quality assurance systems 

• Expertise  – Finding committed staff with expertise

• Buy-in  – Recognizing the importance of quality, having ownership

• Employment of a large number of part-time faculty• Providing engaging material

• Providing timely, positive, and nurturing feedback

• Finance  – Attaining 60%-80% of face to face costs 

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Suggestions for improving

quality assurance

• Establish course development, delivery,student support, and logistics that arecongruent with your institution’s goals,mission, values/ethics, and community

involvement.Be cognizant of words such as“accessibility, equity, flexibility, and

 just-in-time learning”.

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• Determine who your students areand their attributes then customize the materials, learning support, and

logistics that will meet their needs.

• Attain the same benchmarks as

traditional, face-to-face programs

and go beyond these benchmarks

-include digital media skills, etc.

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• Look at the outputs 

“We need to look much more at outputs if we

seek to inculcate a culture of quality, and this

inevitably means more and better record

keeping and analysis, and more and better 

research and evaluation.”

From: Tony Bates, Perspectives on Distance Education:

Towards a Culture of Quality published by COL

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• Establish an informal network to review

each other’s programs.

• Provide continuous opportunities for faculty and staff to participate in

professional development opportunities.

Quality Matters, Inter-Institutional Quality Assurance

in Online Learning, http://www.qualitymatters.org 

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• Ensure that qualified editors review andproofread the materials. (Colombo to Bangkok)

• Assign someone whose primaryresponsibility is to monitor and researchquality. 

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• Plan for future

possibilities that you

hope will never 

happen.

Spend more time

asking the “what

if…” questions.(from Dhaka)

Develop decision-

tables. (UVic)

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• Realize that quality is not a static end-

point, but a dynamic, evolving process that

has an output that is constantly changing.

• Commit an identifiable 

amount of resources to

initiatives that focus on

learners and learning.

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Effective e-learning courses:

• Are interactive and engage the learner 

• Encourage critical thinking,problem-solving, and creativity

• Provide opportunities for online practice andknowledge transfer 

• Offer timely, constructive,relevant, and frequent

feedback • Provide links to resources 

beyond the content

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It is not only possible for distanceand e-learning programs to meet

existing standards for traditional

institutions, but to exceed them.

(UKOU)

The OU has an enrolment of 200,000

and was ranked 5th among all English

Universities for teaching quality.

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Quest for excellence 

Understanding the concept

Action-orientation

Learner-centric approach

Innovation for change

Training to build competencies

 Year-round activity

National Assessment and Accreditation Council, India: Seven Steps to Quality

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Quality in

Distance Education Programs

 For a more detailed discussion, contact:

Clayton R. Wright, PhD

crwr77@gmail.com