Transformation of Online Education: Jeopardy to Excellence

1. Transformation of Online Education: Jeopardy to Excellence Presented by: Sherrell Wheeler Director of Online Quality Assurance Professor of Business New Mexico State University Alamogordo

2. Once upon a time…

3. HLC Visit 2013Regular VisitSubstantive Change Request for Distance Educationfrom 20% to 50%

9. You want us to do what? Source: ClipArt World

10. Plan Needed to Include • Common homepage • Design standards • Delivery standards • Professional development • Equal services for online students • Way to determine readiness of students • Leadership

11. Plan Submitted to HLC Team • Oversite of Distance Education • Design Standards – Quality Matters™ • Full-time Instructional Designer • Team of Faculty Members • Required Professional Development • Mandatory Template • Online Instructor Inventory

12. Source: Jumping For Joy Images - Food Ideas

13. What We Did • Added oversight • Designed and required professional development • Provided standards for design • Made sure all services were available to all students

14. Oversight • Leadership • Budget and Staff Allocations • Guidelines Manual • Trained Online Instructors • Online Delivery Standards • Online Programs Declared

15. Professional Development • Online Teaching Course • Applying the Quality Matters™ Rubric Workshop (APPQMR) • Canvas Training • Campus Lead Workshops • Mentorship • Quality Matters™ Professional Development

16. Online Course Design • Quality Matters™ Reviews • Measurable Objectives and Alignment • Common Homepage • Accessibility Standards

17. Quality Matters™ Reviews Official Reviews Internal Reviews 2013 – 4 2014 – 41 2015 – 7 2016 – 3 2017 – 14 (all pre-reviews) 2018 – 7 (4 in review all pre-reviews) Total - 76 • 2013 – 1 • 2014 – 33 • 2015 – 47 • 2016 – 54 • 2017 – 17 • 2018 – 24 (8 in review) Total - 176

20. Services for Students • Point of Contact • Student Services • Business Office • Tutoring/Testing • Library Services • Online Student Orientation • Student Assessment of Skills

22. HLC Visit 2017Regular VisitReview online education based on plan submitted to previous team

23. Where are we today? Confident in the expectations for our faculty. Confident in the quality of our courses. Confident that all our students get the same educational opportunities.

24. Early Student Comments “New and Improved!!! Love the easy navigation!!” “I liked taking this course a lot!! It was very easy to navigate and the requirements were very clear.” “I look forward to taking more courses designed by Quality Matters Standards.” “Excellent course, easy to understand the require-ments of the students, communication with the instructor was better than past online experiences.”

25. Noel-Levitz PSOL Survey Satisfaction Student assignments are clearly defined in the syllabus. Navigation in the online courses is logical, consistent, and efficient. The technologies required in my courses are readily available, provided or easily downloaded. Course learning objectives, and instructions on how to meet them, are made clear in my courses.

26. Staff Survey Have you noticed an impact from our new distance education initiative? 75% - Yes “The expectations that our students have of the online courses have increased. The students have now been trained to expect a certain quality and anything less than that is now a problem.”

27. Faculty Survey Did the changes made in your course to meet the Quality Matters™ Standards make your courses more engaging? 75% - Yes “Students are more actively engaged through the QM improvements.”

28. 2014 Quality Matters Making a Difference for Students by an Institution Award Recipient

29. 2017 Quality Matters Making a Difference for Students by an Individual Award Recipient

30. And, they all lived happily ever after (or at least until the next HLC visit).

31. Questions? swheeler@nmsu.eduhttp://nmsua.edu/online-education/