Abstract
One perspective in the current quality debate is that the rise of the virtual learner is a search for quality and personal satisfaction in learning. This accords with contemporary quality principles which are person-centred and concerned with client satisfaction. While there may be many questions about the effectiveness of online learning, there are well-founded research conclusions that it achieves higher student satisfaction and levels of engagement. In addition, there is a growing understanding of the factors that affect learner engagement in online learning and also a burgeoning of evaluation instruments that focus on the quality of the learning experience. This paper addresses current definitions of quality in online design and examines emerging expectations of what constitutes a good online experience from the perspective of students, designers and researchers.
The original version of this chapter was revised: The copyright line was incorrect. This has been corrected. The Erratum to this chapter is available at DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-35700-3_33
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbey, B. (2000). Instructional and Cognitive Impacts of Web-based education. Hershey: Idea group Publishing.
American Psychological Association. (1993). Learner-centered psychological principles: Guidelines for school reform and restructuring. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association and the Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory.
Alexander, S., & McKenzie, J. (1998). An evaluation of information technology projects for university learning. Canberra: Committee for University Teaching and Staff Development.
Ashcroft, K., & Peck, I. F. (1994). Managing teaching and learning in higher education. London: The Falmer Press.
Belfer, K. (2000). A learner centered assessment of quality for online education course climate. Paper presented at the ED Media 2000: World conference on educational multimedia and hypermedia, Tampere.
Berge, Z. L., Collins, M., & Dougherty, K. (2000). Design guidelines for Web-based courses. In B. Abbey (Ed.), Instructional and cognitive impacts of Web-based education 32–41. Hershey: idea group Publishing.
Bersin, E. (2002). Measuring e-learning’s effectiveness, 2003, from www.elearningmag.com/elearning/article/articledetail.jsp?id=11692
Biggs, J. (2001). The reflective institution: assuring and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. Higher Education, 41(2), 221–238.
Broad, M. C. (1999, t). The dynamics of quality assurance in online distance education. Retrieved 15/1/03, 2003, from http://www.usq.edu.au/electpub/eiist/docs/old/volonot/contents.htm
Collis, B., & Moonen, J. (2001). Flexible learning in digital world. London: Kogan Page. Innovations in Distance Education (1998). An emerging set of guiding principles for the design and development of distance education. Pennysylvania: Pennsylvania State University. Online at http://www.outreach.psu.edu/de/ide.
Herrington, J., R. Oliver, & Reeves, T. (2002). Patterns of engagement in authentic online learning environments. In A. Wiliamson, C. Gunn, A. Young & T. Clear (Eds.), Winds of change in the sea of learning: Proceedings of ASCILITE 2002; 279–286. Auckland: Unitec.
McCombs, B. L. (2000). Learner centered psychological principles: a framework for technology evaluation. Paper presented at the US Department of Education Regional Conference on Evaluating Technology in Education, Atlanta, Georgia.
McKinnon, K. R., Walker, S. H., & Davis, D. (2000). Benchmarking: A manual for Australian universities. Canberra: Australian Government publishing service.
National Education Association (2000). A survey of traditional and distance learning higher education members. Washington, DC: National Education Association: http://www.nea.org/he/abouthe/distudy.pdf
Oliver, R. and C. McLoughlin (2001). Using networking tools to support online learning. Innovation in open and distance learning: Successful development of online and EWebbased learning. F. Lockwood. London, Routledge: 160–171.
Pennington, D. (1998). Managing quality in higher education institutions of the 21st Century: A framework for the future. Australian Journal of Education 42(3): 256–270.
Pond, W. K. (2002). Distributed education in the 21st century: Implications for quality assurance. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration 5(2).
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (1998). Guidelines on the quality assurance of distance education. UK. Online at http://www.gaa.ac.uk/dlg/intro.html.
Schacter, J. (1999). The impact of educational technology on student achievement: What most current research has to say. Santa Monica: Milken Exchange on Education Technology.
Sfaard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the danger of choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4–13.
Spector, M. (2000). Designing technology enhanced learning environments. In B. Abbey (Ed.), Instructional and cognitive impacts of Web-based education; 241–261. Hershey: Idea Group Publishing.
Skolnic, M. (2000). Evaluating online learning. In J. Gidley (Ed.), The university in transformation:Global perspectives on the futures of the university; 55–67. Westport: Bergin & Garvey.
Yeung, D. (2001). Quality assurance of web-based learning in distance education institutions. Online Journal of Distance Education Administration, 2(4), online at: http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter44.html.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
McLoughlin, C. (2003). Perspectives on the quality of online education. In: Davies, G., Stacey, E. (eds) Quality Education @ a Distance. IFIP — The International Federation for Information Processing, vol 131. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35700-3_30
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35700-3_30
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-1039-7
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-35700-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive