Quality Assuring Online-Learning Using the Commonwealth of Learning Regional Community of Practice for Quality Assurance Guidelines

Abstract

The current Covid-19 pandemic has forced institutions of learning to embark on remote learning. Online teaching and learning is different from face-to-face contact teaching in many ways. The learner is separated from the course instructor and learning is technologically-mediated. The issue of quality in online learning is an important and topical one. Open and distance learning (ODL) practitioners, scholars, and other stakeholders have debated the issue of quality in online learning. It is the purpose of this paper to contribute to the debate by suggesting ways of assuring quality in online learning. We explore quality assurance (QA) as a concept and apply the Commonwealth of Learning (COL)’s Regional Community of Practice (CoP) for QA in ODL in Southern Africa guidelines to quality assure online learning. We draw on the seven quality standards of the guidelines, namely, programme design, learner support systems, materials development, learner assessment, infrastructure and facilities, staffing, as well as open-distance education systems and structures. We discuss how the cited quality standards could be applied in quality assuring online learning.