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J. Haworth and C. Conrad, as well as others have created lists of attributes of effective, high-quality programs in higher education. What differentiates them from previous ideas that centered on content of the programs, Haworth and Conrad’s ideas pivot on interactive, learner-centered work. This article applies the findings detailed in Emblems of Quality in Higher Education as well as other works to online education.

Diverse, Involved Participants

Instructors: Instructors apply a range of perspectives to course content and materials , including their explanations, presentations, discussions, and interactions with students. This includes one-on-one communications via e-mail and Instant Messaging, as well as public postings via weblogs or discussion boards.

Instructors also dedicate a significant amount of time to instruction, not only in preparing materials, but in responding to student interests and requests and using those needs to build more effective course materials, or learning activities.

Students: Students contribute new perspectives to course material through discussions with the instructor and other students. The students may interact either through synchronous or asynchronous means.

Students invest time and energy, taking responsibility for their own learning experience. They are actively involved in both formal and informal learning. They respond to structured activities, while they engage in informal research, investigations, readings, and discussions on their own. Self-guided learning is encouraged.

Students take a pro-active stance toward assuring themselves that they have the proper equipment, access, and resources in order to fully and effectively participate in online activities.

Administrators: The institution’s administrators (on department or college level) attract and support innovation and encourage students and instructors. The institution is committed to stimulating participants and assuming a leadership role in formal and informal programs.

Culture of Participation

Administrative Participation in the Program: There is a centralized oversight function that makes sure that a common thread unites all of the various aspects of the program in order to assure consistent and uniform applicability of appropriate and effective online activities. The oversight function constantly evaluates and assesses the effectiveness of the learning activities and makes suggestions for improvement. It also oversees training and orientation.

Student Community: The participants share the educational experience as a kind of “learning community” in which teachers and students teach and learn among themselves, more or less as colleagues. The general atmosphere is one of support and reinforcement.

Students feel camaraderie with the instructors and students (where applicable) and they complement and support a general feeling of community.

Online learning communities are developed by means of asynchronous and synchronous communication, where possible. It is also achieved by making very clear connections between the course content, discussion questions, learning activities, and progress toward arrival at clearly stated learning objectives.

If possible, collaborative activities are encouraged. For example, game or simulations with “smart” technology is encouraged in order to develop bonds through shared activities of creative problem-solving and team information gathering and processing.

Positive Atmosphere Supporting Risk-Taking: Students are supported and challenged to take risks. Students routinely question orthodoxy, propose new perspectives, and alternative points of view. Their online activities encourage collaborations in which they participate in learning activities that push the limits of their potential and pressure them to move further ahead.

Interactive Instruction and Learning

Critical Dialogue: Professors and students are asked to become involved in discussions that are both focused and designed to be enriching. They are always asked to question themselves examine their assumptions and different points of view. By challenging the theoretical underpinnings and their own beliefs, students and instructors are able to arrive at deeper levels of understanding. One goal is to apply the newly developed critical understanding to the real world, and in professional settings. A case study approach is one such method, particularly when there are critical foundations.

In an online environment, this can take place through collaborative activities, where students are asked to respond to each other. It can also take place by means of games and simulations.

Integrating theory and practice, the individual and the course: Students should be trained so that they can apply the lessons they learn to real-life situations. Their work should be relevant, meaningful, with connections to the outside world. Theory should be grounded on general principles that are considered to be standard and applicable, and not to ephemeral ideas that are based on ideological or political vagaries.

Training and Orientation: In an online environment, it is doubly important to provide students, faculty, and staff with sufficient training to be able to understand how learning takes place in an online environment. The institution must manage the technology in such a way that the technology facilitates and enables learning. Even if there is a time of orientation and training, the requirements of technical skills acquisition should never become so onerous as to become a barrier to learning.

Small Group-Based Learning: The goal of small-group collaborations is to create a learning space that encourages intellectual risk-taking and a uniformly supportive place where individuals can seek clarification, explore ideas, apply concepts, and respond to each others’ work.

Activities Outside the e-Learning Space: It is important in an online environment to structure activities that reconnect the learner to the “real” world. Not only is this vital in order to accommodate all learning styles, it is important to make connections between the concepts discussed in the e-learning environment and real-life problems and issues.

Further, the individual learner can test the concepts and ideas. Support for innovative ways to present one’s “outside” activities should be made easily available, and participation should be encouraged. Examples of such activities include audio interviews, web-shots and digital images taken to illustrate key points then uploaded, streaming media.

Weblogs are ideal for the presentation of digital material developed outside the e-Learning space.

Curriculum-Based Requirements

Planned with Depth and Breadth: Students should complete a well-rounded, diverse yet focused plan of study. Students should not be penalized for taking courses outside their declared area of interest. Nevertheless, the ideal curriculum contains core courses and recommended electives, a minimum number of which are required. A committee consisting of qualified faculty and designated instructional design / technologist roles should review the courses to assure the institution of a) appropriate content; b) engaging learning activities; c) viable technological strategies that conform to overall learning objectives; and d) ideal structure and format of delivery of content and learning activities.

Real-World Research: A residency requirement is not necessary in an online course. Nevertheless, the face-to-face exchange of ideas is vital in order to construct bridges, and “scaffolding” to move with ease between divergent points, or to ascend in terms of complexity and/or abstraction. Thus, the ideal learning program should involve an apprenticeship, internship, or research project which will involve the learner with professionals in his or her field, who will engage the concepts and ideas in a practical, responsive, and relevant form.

Tangible Products: In the development of a tangible end-product, the learners are challenged to extrapolate and connect principles, practices, and abilities that they have learned in their program. The goal is to create a valuable product that will be useful when applied to their field and to their personal professional development.

Necessary Support for Effective Learning Experiences Leading to Professional Development

Student: Students who receive financial aid are in a better position to concentrate on their students. Likewise, learners who take advantage of orientations in their field and in job placement services, who learn strategies for seeking and gaining productive employment, who exchange networking tips, and who set up online information exchanges are in a better position to gain satisfying professional employment after they graduate.

Faculty: When faculty are supported adequately, not only in the development of their courses and in instruction and technology, but also in professional development opportunities, will tend to invest time and significant force in teaching and guiding students.

Infrastructure: When the basic infrastructure is sufficient and consistently operational, learners are in a better position to gain knowledge and to master advanced technical skills.

References:

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Casement, W., 1996, The Great Canon Controversy: The Battle of the Books in Higher Education. (New Brunswick, NJ, Transaction Publishers).

Duke, C., 1992, The Learning University: Towards a New Paradigm? (Buckingham, Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press).

Ferguson, L., & Wijekumar, K., 2000, Effective design and use of web-based distance learning environments. Professional Safety. 45 (12), 28-33.

Gaff, J.G. & Ratcliff, J.L., 1997, Handbook of the Undergraduate Curriculum: A Comprehensive Guide to Purposes, Structures, Practices, and Change. (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass).

Harvey, L. & Knight, P.T., 1996, Transforming Higher Education (Buckingham, Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press).

Haworth, J.G. & Conrad, C.F., 1997, Emblems of Quality in Higher Education (London, Allyn and Bacon).

Lenning, O.T. & Ebbers, L.H., 1999, The Powerful Potential of Learning Communities: Improving Education for the Future (Washington, DC, ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education).

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Yeung, D., 2001, Toward an effective quality assurance model of web-based learning: the perspective of academic staff. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. 4 (4).