Internet Learning Volume 4, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 73

Internet Learning
evaluation and assessment” (p. 1). Quality
and best practice in education are repeated
concerns across each agency and each
policy area.
Quality Matters
Before the QM Standards were
developed, several regional accrediting
bodies studied distance education,
expressing the need to develop a means
for relevant measurement to assure quality.
The Higher Education Opportunity Act
(Act) established requisites for accrediting
bodies to assure the quality of programs
offered through distance education (Higher
Education Opportunity Act of 2008, Pub.
L. No. 110–315, 122 Stat. 3494 (2008)).
Further, the Act requires that the agency or
association’s standards “effectively address
the quality of an institution’s distance
education” but “shall not be required to have
separate standards, procedures, or policies
for the evaluation of distance education”
(Higher Education Opportunity Act of
2008, Pub. L. No. 110–315, 122 Stat. 3325
(2008)).
In 2003, the MarylandOnline
(MOL) Consortium initiated the Quality
Matters project. MOL is a voluntary, nonprofit
group of post-secondary educational
institutions in the state of Maryland. The
QM project proposed the creation of
standards for course design and peer review,
assuring the quality of online courses. QM
does not address the quality of the program
or institution. The USDE supported
the project through the Fund for the
Improvement of Postsecondary Education
(FIPSE). The FIPSE grant supported the first
finalized QM Rubric Standards, a process of
course review, and an instructor worksheet.
Developers created benchmark criteria for
course assessment to be points of reference
for best practice rather than rigid measures.
The current QM Standards (https://www.
qualitymatters.org/), now in the fifth edition,
are used to evaluate individual (blended or
online) courses using 43 criteria categorized
into eight general standards, listed below.
QM Standards include detailed descriptions
for each criterion for interpretation and
implementation during course development
and review. Each general standard contains
an overview statement, relating its place in
the process. Each specific Standard contains
detailed annotations with explanation,
instructions for interpretation, examples,
and recommendations for application to
blended courses.
1. Course Overview and Introduction
2. Learning Objectives (Competencies)
3. Assessment and Measurement
4. Instructional Materials
5. Course Activities and Learner
Interaction
6. Course Technology
7. Learner Support
8. Accessibility and Usability
The QM program reflects a grassroots
heritage in which faculty experts
collaborate, modifying the Standards
for course design as distance education
develops. In addition to course assessment,
the broad goals of the QM program include
faculty development and continuous
improvement through critical analysis
for the purpose of increased student
engagement, learning, and satisfaction. QM
also provides professional development to
instructional designers, all levels of faculty,
and academic administrators. Shattuck,
Zimmerman and Adair (2014) describe
the process of regular review of the QM
Standards to ensure their applicability
within a broad variety of educational levels
and disciplines. They discuss the process
of continuous improvement in relationship
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