What topic is the course using? In technical courses, I set course objectives with some specific level of achievement for the students. Yet discussion forums serve a very different function when I am dealing with theoretical technical questions such as the design of specific networks. In that case, I still have to set a standard from the perspective of network business case. For example, I need the team to ensure the network has a certain percentage of use with some small percentage of errors. If the team achieves these standards, then they have accomplished the objective. You are asking some of the questions I want to research, as a basis to measure the effectiveness of various learning methods, especially the online methods, in the technical (Telecomm) field.

You might be interested in measuring the following variables: social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence. These variables are part of Garrison and Anderson's Community of Inquiry model, which is described here:

http://communitiesofinquiry.com/model

I can't recall the exact publication but each presence is characterised by specific linguistic markers that can be identified and quantified. You should be able to get a list of the linguistic markers by following the links on the url above.

Chipere

You might want to read Shin's work on transactional presence (2003, 2003).

That' 2002, 2003 for Shin

@Glenn Forte

Thanks - I wasn't aware of that construct

Her dissertation was w/ MGMoore @ penn state. He is the founder of the American Journal if Distance Edycation & noted for his transactional distance theory, which holds that online learning is a psychological separation of instructor & student as well as a geographical one. For an instrument see the DELES by Walker 2005 I think. g

Got the instrument - many thanks.

Ngoni

Hola...

Based on the concept of usability, Karoulis & Pombart developed categories based on the way learning is facilitated. In a work I applied a rubric with the next topics:

Contenido

Adaptación a principios de Educación a Distancia

Interfaz del usuario

Uso de tecnologías

Interactividad con el material instruccional

Apoyo al estudiante

Canal de comunicación

Adquisición del conocimiento

Proyectos y “aprender haciendo”

Evaluación y autoevaluación

The reference is:

Karoulis, A. & A. Pombortsis ( 2003) Heuristic Evaluation of Web-Based ODL Programs. En Claude Ghaoui, Usability Evaluation on Online Programs. London: Information Science Publishing, 88-109.

Dear Euro Marques:

You are talking about two different things: participation in online forums, AND quality of online courses. I suggest you take a look at the attached article.

Regards,

Edgar

Hello Edgar! I appreciate the article sent. It is very interesting! In my study, I would assess the quality of the course focused on social interactions of students within a course that uses collaborative learning supported by information technology. I believe that a higher level of social interaction will lead to greater participation in the course and a deeper learning. Hugs, Euro.

Hello Yahia! I appreciate your cooperation.

The use of projects in the evaluation of courses is an interesting idea. But can I use projects to evaluate all kinds of skills and knowledge that I want my students to develop?

One question is whether the project will be done individually or in groups.

Another distinction is that between learning tasks of concepts (ie, based on facts) and project tasks (ie, analysis and synthesis).

Concept learning tasks can be viewed as "well-structured tasks" that often require the application of a limited number of rules or principles and have a single correct solution, while the design tasks can be regarded as "poorly -structured tasks" that have a considerable degree of uncertainty about the rules and principles that can be applied and often have no clear solution (depending on many variables in the problem space) (Jonassen, 1997).

In principle, well-structured tasks will cause less interactions because aimed at convergence, ie, there is only one correct solution (Jonassen & Kwon, 2001).

Sincerely, Euro.

What I would like to emphasize regarding assessment of the quality of online course is considering different perspectives in the assessment process, especially online students and instructors beside the administrators.

In my Master thesis I have discussed issues related to teaching in the distance education, with emphasis on mediation tutors considering collaborative learning. From this it is possible to think about indicators of quality of courses, such as: monitoring of student learning, the pedagogical architecture, design pedagogical methodologies adopted, among others.

Referring to Harvay and Green 1993, Quality is always referential to a certain standard, point of view, etc. Therefore, your first step should be to figure out the learning goals, target group, learner's previous knowledge and expectations. These are the criteria on which you measure the fit of your learning resources, communication and collaboration tools, didactical concept and so on. In this context, quality can be understood as the extent to which these two sides match well. Harvay/Green call this ‘Quality as Fitness for Purpose’.

Conclusio: You can evaluate the course yourself, by cross-checking all factors mentioned above on how well they match.

An online course is based on a teaching-learning process interactive type, in which the student has the ability to interact or communicate through the Internet with content, with the teacher or facilitator and other participants in the course through assignments, lectures, debates, tests, quizzes, and other devices that can take the place of a book, a unit or chapter material. Online courses are used in both distance education programs and in person.

At present, most online courses employ an environment or teaching-learning environment based on web technology, called instructional website or simply instructional site. We define instructional site as interactive teaching environment and learning that integrates all the other elements of the online course facilitators, students, curriculum and other teaching resources and communication tools. The teaching-learning process is given using the site as an essential instructional interaction and communication.

The evaluation of an online course should not be confused with student assessment. The latter is an inherent part of the teaching-learning process and aims to measure the degree of student learning, while the former aims to qualify the online course as a whole, in order to establish the degree to which the course meets its objectives .

In this process it is important to know some elements related to the course content, objectives, academic activities (forums, exercises, homework), quality of tutor interventions, knowledge of the subject by the tutor. Likewise, we appreciate the platform or portal, its operation, software, student assessment tools, etc.

Some desirable characteristics for e-Learning course can be:

• That there is a complete and simple platform: the potential student should be able to try a demo of a course unit in question, and evaluate the facilities of the virtual learning environment.

• That there is a strong and systematic tutorial: central and critical point. Without a proactive tutor, responding in a timely manner (ideally within 24 hours) queries of students, dropout rates increase and the quality of the course decreases.

• That in addition to the tools that allow it, there is great deal of interactivity both between tutor and student, and between students.

• That encourages and enables collaborative work: because otherwise the student is "isolated" from the rest of his teammates, and ignores such an important aspect as it is the socializing effect of learning.

• What materials are own specific, ie they have been developed taking into account the form of eLearning, and not be merely a digital version of a book.

In my research proposal, I am suggesting that student rate the on oinstructor & course in conjunction w/the IDEA course evaluation. Glenn Forte

Technical support for faculty and student is also a critical success factor.

Is there initial training in the use of the learning environment?

Is there online support staff available for students who may need assistance in using the system?

Is there a mechanism in place for students to get assistance when they have connectivity or other technical issues?

Look here: http://www.caled-ead.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20&Itemid=2

Universal Design for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn.

UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.

http://cast.org/udl/index.html

The best way to assess the quality of an online course are as following;

1.Institutional standards: Mission statement; Governance; Leadership; Planning; Organizational Staffing; Organizational Commitment; Equity and Access and Integrity and Accountability.

2. Teaching and Learning Standards: Curriculum and Course Design: Way of Instruction and Assessment of Student Performance.

3. Support Standards: Faculty; Students; Guidance Services; Organizational Support and a Team of Parents/Guardians

4. Evaluation Standards: Internal and external program evaluation; Program continuity of improvement activities.

In total the online course is based on advancement of the program’s vision and mission; student achievement; internal and external evaluation; current research in the relevant areas and promising practices.

The best assessment: how the "Statement of Accomplishment" and associated abilities are assessed by students peers and superiors.

The distance education faces a big challenge which is quality assurance,there must be benchmarks same as trational university,at same time, there is very good study support systems. Externational audit is quite important too.

See the following document (http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED444407.pdf) which outlines the benchmarks for the success in Internet-based distance education. Another useful reading is the book published by Althabasca University:

Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The theory and practice of online learning. Athabasca University Press.

http://dspace.uces.edu.ar:8180/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/586/Theory%20and%20Practice%20of%20online%20learning.pdf?sequence=1

Quality Matters (https://www.qualitymatters.org/higher-education-program) is the program that is developed exclusively to maintain the standards for on line and blended courses.

It provides a rubric (https://www.qualitymatters.org/rubric) to align the course material into various categories such as Course Overview and Introduction, Learning Objectives (Competencies), Assessment and Measurement, Instructional Materials, Learner Interaction and Engagement, Course Technology, Learner Support, and Accessibility. By following the rubric aligning your course contents with them, it is possible to develop online courses that are successful. It also has an arrangement for peer review of the online courses. My University follows it for most of the course development process.

I measure the quality of learner-to-learner interaction as intersubjectivity using the Interaction Analysis Model of Gunawardena, Lowe, and Anderson (1997). See

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261161448_In_support_of_the_Interaction_Analysis_Model_for_evaluating_discourse_in_a_virtual_learning_community?ev=prf_pub

or the model's use in my other research.

Article In support of the Interaction Analysis Model for evaluating ...

Some aspects to consider in measuring the quality of online courses:

Design evaluation.

Evaluation of the implementation.

Evaluation of the reaction: Satisfaction with various aspects of the course: ease of use, achievement of objectives, pace of work, use of communication tools.

Evaluation of learning.

Evaluation of transfer: Measure the degree of applicability of the skills acquired through the course.

It should be noted that information is not equal to knowledge, and knowledge is the product of intellectual thinking, debate, and creativity. Online learning process does not facilitate knowledge acquiring by itself, although it facilitates information acquiring. Therefore, providing the environment of intellectual thinking, debate, and creativity are a benchmark to the assessment of quality of online learning.

1,Objectives, 2,Plan of Course, 3,Teaching tools, 4,Discussion forum (feed back among the course students, teachers), 5,Interaction with Expert teachers and Evaluation. That evaluation parts, we have prepare a scale on the basis of the above said five criteria. You can use Strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree type of statements fulfilled your Quality of Online Course.

Something that is done in the online course I instruct is, as the students are preparing for the final exam (undergrad, general ed course) there is an opportunity for the students to post comments about how to successfully study for exams. During this discussion many will make comments about the course and what they have learned and will take forward. This to me is more valuable than a traditional course evaluation because it is very candid and not contrived as in a traditional student evaluation.

As quality is too broad (and sometimes vague) a concept, it would help if you focus on assessing student outcome from, participation in or contribution to the online learning environment, just to name a few. Regardless of the 'quality aspects', one of the core thing lies in the interaction between teacher/instructor and the student. Many online teachers or developers might equate online learning with the absence of the teacher. Rather, it requires an invisible commitment from teacher/instructor.

Well, that depends on whose perception of quality you might be interested in: is it the student’s perspective on quality? According to Young and Norgard (2006), extant literature has shown that the following areas are important for student satisfaction with online instruction: interaction among students, quality and timely interaction between student and professor, consistent course design across courses, technical support availability, and flexibility of online courses compared to face-to-face. Any of those areas might be variables. Different stakeholders will have different perceptions of course quality, and therefore different variables.

Reference:

Young, A., & Norgard, C. (2006). Assessing the quality of online courses from the students' perspective. The Internet and Higher Education, 9(2), 107-115. doi:http://dx.doi.org.library.capella.edu/10.1016/j.iheduc.2006.03.001

The online courses and content may be evaluated based on the following factors:

a) Support service available to student

b) peer-to-peer interaction enabled by such courses

c) Online queries raised and the level of satisfaction the student community has got by answering these queries

d) The number of follow-up courses taken by students

The online courses can be visualized as a quality transaction where the service provider is the online media. In such a settings, Quality has several dimensions. I would refer to the SEVQUAL scale which is widely used in evaluating service quality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SERVQUAL

Rich and authentic activities that foster learners' engagement in the learning community. We should also assess teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence in the online course that should measure all dimensions of learning teaching and educational processes.

The web site www.geteducated.com focuses on online education.  They provide an abundance of information on rating the quality of online courses/schools.  They also include reviews of online courses written by students.

There is a free subscription to a program that allows for team collaboration that looks promising for online courses. Students can brainstorm and write notes on a "private canvas" and then share them when ready on a "team canvas."  Web pages, audio, and video can be included.  www.teamput.com