Quality Standards and Principles
In support of teaching excellence and high quality course delivery, eLearning and Emerging Technologies uses a series of best practices, standards, and principles to guide our work. This page describes a few of the resources we use to focus on quality and to strive for excellence.
- Institutional Memberships
Memberships are leveraged to become aware of best practices and deployment strategies that are effective in the use of technology in teaching.
- Quality Matters
Rubrics and standards are provided to faculty to assist in evaluating online and hybrid courses.
- Online Learning Consortium
An OLC Quality Scorecard is used to measure and quantify best practice in online education.
- GVSU Online Education Council Peer Review Rubric
A faculty peer review rubric is available through Grand Valley State University's Online Education Council which is a faculty governance committee. This rubric is based off from the Quality Matters and Blackboard Exemplary Course Program. This rubric provides a series of good practice quality recommendations for Online/Hybrid Teaching Standards.
- Blackboard Exemplary Course Program
Blackboard provides an extensive rubric, peer review, and assessment process that establishes a quality framework for online course design and delivery.
- Higher Learning Commission
"Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs" includes 5 key areas such as: Institutional commitment, curriculum and instruction, faculty support, student support, and evaluation and assessment.
- Higher Learning Commission
"Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education (On-line Learning)" includes a set of standards that includes 9 hallmarks of quality.
- National Education Association
The "Quality On the Line: Benchmarks for Success in Internet-Based Distance Education" report was commissioned by the National Education Association and Blackboard Inc. This report includes 24 benchmarks and guidelines cover Curriculum and Instruction, Evaluation and Assessment, Library and Learning Resources, Student Services, Facilities and Finances.
- Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS) in Higher Education
CAS highlights focus on enhancing the quality of students learning experiences in higher education.
- Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC)
"Interregional Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education Programs" provides guidelines for evaluating distance education programs.