ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on assuring quality for online course design, considering the quality assurance practices that are applicable to any courses using technology to deliver instruction and promote student learning. Whether a course is online or blended, synchronous or asynchronous, instructor-led or self-paced, small or large, the design represents the forethought and planning that goes into a course. When the design is articulated and enacted, it can be reviewed for quality. The purpose of quality measurement may be purely evaluative, to identify exemplary courses, to discriminate between acceptable and unacceptable courses, and to perform inter- and intrainstitutional benchmarking. To be both scalable and efficient, then, a quality assurance process for online courses must ultimately be executed by the faculty. The effectiveness of the process will be determined by the validity of the standards, the consistency of their application, and the presence of a structure that enables continuous improvement.
