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This is an international consortium about quality blended learning.

We've been using Quality Matters for several years and although it might appear that the focus is "quality in online courses", the rubric and process works well for blended learning as well. https://www.qualitymatters.org/

An ambitious project being funded by the EU (EU project number 539717-LLP-1-2013-1-IT-GRUNDTVIG-GMP) that is designed to "develop an appropriate quality framework as well as tools to evaluate the quality of Blended Learning." Will be interested to monitor how they come to resolve some of the issues pointed out in the Blendkit2016 material.

Interesting! I was a bit taken aback by the lack of concrete ways to assess online courses from the readings, so this is helpful!

Quality is defined by the ISO organization and can be seen as "... the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs". The transfer from production to teaching and learning is not so easy because you have to define the product or service. The blog set up to support the EU Project on Quality in Blended Learning

I chose this article as it relates well to the ch 5 discussion regarding quality in blended courses.

Beth - so interested to see that you chose this article!! I participated in this study as the Quality Matters trainer. So the two groups (short training, long training) worked with me to learn how to apply QM to improve their courses. We have been Quality Matters subscribers for 6 years and incorporate it into all the training and development of online courses.

"The implementation of blended learning that I saw during my visit clearly has room to improve when it comes to providing high-quality academic instruction. But for the students in the program, blended learning is a powerful enabler of self-motivated learning and increased teacher support."

A Slideshare presentation

This reading from Quality Matters was the prompt for me to searching for possibilities to learn more about online/blended learning. It is clear written and gives very practical informations.

As we look at quality assurance in Wk 5, the last two pillars provide ways to answer the question as to whether or not our teaching in the blended course was effective. While the 5 are really aimed at an overall view of online course quality, they also map to the blended environment. Plus, it's a short read! :)

Educause's ELI was mentioned in the week 5 webinar. Here are materials from one of their webinars covering evaluation of the course from the assignments perspective. This can lead back to student value of the class.

A peer review guide for the teaching of an already existing hybrid course. Based upon Chickering and Gamson's "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education"

This cute video uses Legos to demonstrate the critical components of writing effective instructions. Both the video production and content are high quality; worth 5 minutes of your time if you are looking for an instruction writing guide.

While considering quality and blended learning, take a moment to review this expanded definition of hybridity. It goes beyond whether learning occurs in the classroom or online and assumes that we consider online learning in the class and physical presence online. This article includes many other ways we blend in education.

Interesting to think about leveraging our "localness". This is part of broader research from Sloan that posits that local universities and colleges can leverage their local brand when they establish quality online or blended courses. Not everyone is going to do the MOOC at Harvard just because it is being offered by a big name university. They may well go with a trusted local brand particularly if we offer a blend of online and personalised experience.

Distance Education | Spotlight Using Online and Blended Learning To Help Students Design Their Educational Experience For Julie Young, who recently announced her retirement as president and CEO of Florida Virtual School (FLVS), the journey to online and blended learning began with her organization's mission: "To deliver high-quality technology-based education that provides the skills and knowledge students need for success."

Site dedicated to the use of technology to implement Chickering and Gamson's Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education

Blended Learning Glossary

Increasingly, faculty who teach an online course may not be the ones who actually designed the course. Thus, current measurements, especially those that focus on course design and innovation, are not appropriate tools for assessing these faculty members. Instead, the authors assert: "We must look at the actions performed by the instructors within the course." The objective of the authors' study was "to identify a set of criteria that would yield objective data easily examined by supervisors and peers during an online course observation and serve as a balance to the more subjective data gathered from student surveys." The authors identified six questions to be used as a starting point for evaluating online instructors. These questions are copied below verbatim: Has the instructor logged in at least an average of every other day? Has the instructor posted a biography of at least a paragraph, in addition to contact info? Has the instructor posted announcements at least weekly? Is there evidence that the instructor answers student inquiries in two days or less? Does the instructor participate in discussion forums where appropriate? Does the instructor provide feedback on assignments? This article is an excellent resource because it clearly delineates between design and instruction. It also provides the six very concrete questions to use when evaluating instructors.