A Review of Paradigms for Evaluating the Quality of Online Education Programs.

As the demands for public accountability increase for higher education, institutions must demonstrate quality within programs and processes, including those provided through online education. While quality may be elusive to specifically quantify, there have been several recommendations for identifying and defining quality online education that address common areas of program development and administration. This paper explores and compares 13 recommendations and paradigms found in the literature for identifying and evaluating the quality of online education programs in higher education.

[1]  K. Arrow Higher education as a filter , 1973 .

[2]  Mike Moore,et al.  Distance Education: A Systems View , 1995 .

[3]  Ronald A. Phipps,et al.  Assuring quality in distance learning a preliminary review , 1998 .

[4]  Charles A. Schwartz,et al.  Managing technological change: strategies for college and university leaders , 2000 .

[5]  Badrul H. Khan,et al.  A framework for web-based learning , 2000 .

[6]  Is There an Academic Audit in Your Future? Reforming Quality Assurance in U.S. Higher Education , 2000 .

[7]  Michael T. Miller,et al.  Improving Distance Education: Perceptions of Program Administrators , 2001 .

[8]  Wallace K. Pond,et al.  Distributed Education in the 21st Century: Implications for Quality Assurance. , 2002 .

[9]  Dc Washington,et al.  Council for Higher Education Accreditation. , 2002 .

[10]  Marilyn Lockhart,et al.  An assessment model and methods for evaluating distance education programmes , 2002 .

[11]  Charles D. Dziuban,et al.  Using Quality Assurance Strategies for Online Programs , 2002 .

[12]  Cathy Cavanaugh Distance education quality: success factors for resources, practices and results , 2002 .

[13]  Jia Frydenberg,et al.  Quality Standards in eLearning: A Matrix of Analysis. , 2002 .

[14]  Daniel Taylor,et al.  Continuous-improvement strategies in higher education: a progress report , 2003 .

[15]  A. Benson Dimensions of Quality in Online Degree Programs , 2003 .

[16]  T. Banta Quality in Distance Education: Focus on On-Line Learning (review) , 2004 .

[17]  Ernest T. Pascarella,et al.  What Does Institutional Selectivity Tell Us About Educational Quality? , 2004 .

[18]  Jon F. Wergin Higher Education: Waking up to the Importance of Accreditation-- Ramifications of Proposed 2005 Extension of the Higher Education Act. , 2005 .

[19]  Elizabeth Reed Osika The Concentric Support Model: A Model for the Planning and Evaluation of Distance Learning Programs. , 2006 .

[20]  P. Harroff,et al.  Dimensions of Program Quality in Web-Based Adult Education , 2006 .

[21]  Distance Education and the Six Regional Accrediting Commissions: A Comparative Analysis. , 2007 .

[22]  J. Eaton,et al.  Institutions, Accreditors, and the Federal Government: Redefining Their "Appropriate Relationship" , 2007 .

[23]  D. Casey A Journey to Legitimacy: The Historical Development of Distance Education through Technology , 2008 .

[24]  S. Dorman,et al.  A Primer on Quality Indicators of Distance Education , 2009, Health promotion practice.

[25]  J. Daniel,et al.  Breaking Higher Education's Iron Triangle: Access, Cost, and Quality , 2009 .

[26]  W. Powell,et al.  Institutions , 2010 .