CCE Faculty Articles
Developing a Criteria Set for an Online Learning Environment - From the Perspectives of Higher Education Faculty
Abstract
Although designing an online course is a difficult task, it is one that is faced by educators almost on a daily basis. There is a lot of pressure to put one's course online and little research is available for the “best” way to do it. There are course management systems available that aid in the procedural tasks. However, there are no optimal designs or best practices for an online course that could provide guidance to those who are not familiar with technologies. This study was designed to develop a set of criteria for excellence in designing and maintaining online courses, from the perspective of higher education faculty members. A two-fold approach was taken in this study. A group of faculty members brainstormed a list of important factors for optimal online learning environment. A second group of faculty members will then be used to validate the criteria. Factor analysis will be used to analyze the criteria and produce a set of criteria measuring different aspects of excellence in online courses.