Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Online Learning Management
Your 5 Best Tips for No-Fail Production
5/1/2008
THREE: Emphasize Quality.
The best route to quality assurance in online course production may be via independent third-party QA professionals contracted to go through course materials and review them for accuracy. Even a garden-variety proofreader or editor instructed to check all factual information will increase your chances of getting the information right and keeping the quality of the content high.
TIP 3: Emphasize Quality
Any efforts to develop content for an online course (even those above) mean nothing, if the content itself is not accurate. An online course may offer an abundance of information, but if the data are outdated or incorrect, they serve no purpose. In the world of online learning (as in the world of traditional learning), quality is just as important as quantity.
Achieving factual quality, then, comes down to the process of quality assurance (QA). Gary Lopez, executive director of the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education, insists that the best route to quality assurance in online course production is via independent, third-party QA professionals, who are contracted to go through course materials and review them for accuracy. Lopez likens this process to fact-checking-the same procedure newspapers and magazines rely on to ensure the accuracy of their coverage. He believes that even if your third-party quality assurance professional is a garden-variety proofreader or editor simply instructed to check all factual content, having someone outside the institution examine the content through a fresh set of eyes will increase your chances of getting the information right and will keep the quality of the content high.
"Just as it's a terrible experience to read something you know is wrong, it's even more frustrating to try to learn something when it's filled with errors," Lopez says. "The inaccuracy could be something as simple as turning a plus sign to a minus sign, but from the perspective of a student who is on the cusp of understanding certain concepts, that tiny error could make a huge difference."
TO KEEP ONLINE COURSE content relevant, all full-time and adjunct instructors at DePaul University are required to update their online syllabi annually.
Case in point: Long's American history class at CSTCC. The professor reports that, some time ago, she discovered an erroneous definition for the term "scalawag" in the online course materials. History buffs know scalawag as a derogatory term applied to native white Southerners who cooperated with or supported the federal Reconstruction plan, but students studying American history for the first time didn't have a clue.
Recommended Reading
- CT Industry
- eProcurement Success!
Today, it's clear to almost every campus executive that moving an institution from the traditional purchasing model to a strategic eProcurement program can greatly increase staff efficiency and save the institution money. Because eProcurement automates so many purchasing processes, it eliminates reams of paperwork and allows procurement staff to refocus their efforts on cutting costs and improving strategic partnerships.
- How to Be a Super Tech Leader
Mary Jo Gorney-Moreno didn't start out in IT. She joined San Jose State University (CA) in 1981 as an assistant professor in the school of nursing. But somewhere along the way, she realized her energy was focused on academic technology, and how it could help a variety of learners gain knowledge.
- James Morris
- Products :: Data Security
- Products :: Physical Security
