Quality Matters (QM) is a non-profit educational organization that develops “standards, processes and professional development for quality assurance in online and blended learning.” Since 2020, Clemson Online has managed the University’s QM subscription and course review process to ensure quality in online course design for both credit-bearing and Continuing/Professional Education (CPE) courses. We encourage faculty and staff to undergo the certification process, as QM-certified courses are nationally recognized for their outstanding quality.
We recognize that the QM review process can seem daunting. Because of this, we reached out to three different Clemson faculty members who put their courses through review at least one year ago. We asked how obtaining a QM certification has helped improve their online courses. We hope their responses encourage you to consider the QM certification process.
Chad Magnum, Ph.D.: “The QM review helped my course improve the clarity of its communication and organizational layout. Students are more equipped now to navigate their way through the course, and it helped to increase their understanding of the course expectations up front (compared to the pre-QM course). The QM review improved the course!”
Seth McKelvey, Ph.D.: “I found the QM review process really helpful, first, in improving the accessibility of my course—on everything from the overall layout to video captions to page formatting. It was also a great opportunity to get back to the basics of course design and think carefully about the alignment between my objectives for my students and the ways I was assessing them; articulating that relationship has helped my students better understand the underlying motivations for their tasks, and it has helped me rethink and refine my course content and assignments.”
Lydia O’Halloran, Ph.D.: “I actually had 2 courses that underwent the Quality Matters review process: Advanced Conservation Biology and Global Change Ecology. The biggest change to both of my courses was clearly outlining the course learning objectives and explicitly tying them into the module learning objectives. This provided the student with an enhanced understanding of how the module topics and assignments relate to the course curriculum. Both courses also benefited from increasing the accessibility options for the course as well as providing links to support services on campus, and tutorials on using software, all to increase student academic success.”
Interested in having your course reviewed but don’t know where to start? Reach out to QM Coordinator Hansen Wetsel with any questions or concerns!
Social presence is an essential element of online learning and student engagement. Drawing from the Community of Inquiry framework, this workshop will provide tools and best practices for increasing meaningful community in your online course. When registering, please include any questions you have about this training topic.
Facilitated by Millie Tullis, Digital Learning Strategist.
Registration:Fostering Online Classroom Communities.
Join this training to learn more about the impact of AI on online learning and higher education. We will cover what impacts AI tools have on online learning, concrete ways to incorporate AI tools into your online teaching and course design to benefit your work, and ethical considerations when using these tools. When registering, please include any questions you have about this training topic.
Facilitated by James Butler, Digital Learning Strategist.
Registration: AI and Online Learning.
Contact Millie Tullis with any questions about these sessions.
Review our Summer 2024 Events Calendar to see what Online Instruction Development opportunities await!
We have a robust lineup of topics and live training formats to support your use of Canvas and other e-learning tools. Topics cover demonstrations of using Kaltura, engaging your students, and workshops to get your Canvas site ready to teach!
All of our live training is recorded. Registrants will automatically receive a link to that day’s video after it has been processed.
Contact Millie Tullis with any questions regarding these sessions.
Clemson Online – Where Tech and Teaching Meet
Enroll in a workshop with Quality Matters to improve your online course! Improving Your Online Course with Quality Matters Interested […]
Lifelong learning is a powerful way to make an impact on the lives of others.
The workshop guides you through evaluating your own online or hybrid course and developing a plan for improvement.
