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APR 5, 2012

Sloan’s 5 Pillars of Quality Online Education

The Sloan Consortium is a professional leadership organization dedicated to helping online learning move into the mainstream of higher education. As part of this mission they have published numerous effective practices for online education including their 5 Pillars of Quality Online Education. A closer look at these 5 principles and the associated resources serves as a gateway for examining and evaluating the effectiveness of online instruction. Here’s what they show us.
The 5 Pillars
Learning Effectiveness (P. 5)
According to the Sloan Consortium guidelines, the quality of online learning should be at least as good as that available in traditional courses at the institution. This should be the most obvious criterion for evaluating any online learning effort and can be determined by looking at the following:
  • Interaction: This key element should be a point of emphasis between instructors, classmates, the interface, and via vicarious interaction
  • Cutting-edge Design: Online course design takes advantage of capabilities of the medium to improve learning (testing, discussion, materials)
  • Faculty Led: Courses are instructor-led
  • Virtual Community: Communication and community building are emphasized
  • Level of Comfort: Swift trust characterizes the online learning community – students need to feel comfortable and assured quickly.
  • Unique Experiences: Distinctive characteristics of programs are highlighted to demonstrate improved learning
  • Equal Results: On-campus and online instruction achieve comparable learning outcomes, and the institution ensures the quality of learning in both modes with metrics tracking instructional methods, student constituencies and class size
    (Sloan-C, Quality Framework)
In general, this category should be the most important standard for evaluating the quality of an online course. If the actual teaching is not effective – comparable to or better than traditional models – then the course should be deemed a failure regardless of any other assessment.
Cost Effectiveness & Institutional Commitment (P. 5)
Institutions should constantly improve their online courses while also reducing costs. Not only is it critical for online classes to be cost effective alternatives to traditional courses, but there must also be a substantial institutional commitment to making online learning a core element of the college experience. In order to be successful, online education needs to be as important to the mission of the institution as face-to-face efforts. Only by achieving equality with the traditional model will institutions be able to guarantee that their online offerings are of the same quality.
Here are some of the ways that the Sloan guidelines indicate that online education should address these objectives:
  • "Cost effectiveness models are tuned to institutional goals
  • Tuition and fees reflect cost of services delivery
  • Scalability, if an institutional objective, can be accommodated.
  • Partnering and resource sharing are institutional strategies for reducing costs
  • Mission-based strategies for cost reduction are continuously formulated and tested
  • Intellectual property policies encourage cost effective strategies"
    (Sloan-C, Quality Framework)
Implementing a system for monitoring and evaluating these cost effectiveness measures will also demonstrate an institution’s commitment to the model.
Access (P. 5)
Any student interested in learning online should have the opportunity to do so and should be supported in being successful in their efforts. The online medium provides a route for diverse learners such as military, persons with disabilities, and adult learners to achieve their educational goals despite logistical challenges. Institutions must be committed to offering equal access to all potential learners who would be interested in their courses, and must strive to continually improve or adapt their offerings to accommodate the widest possible audience. Here are the Sloan Consortium’s suggestions for how to accomplish this:
  • "Diverse learning abilities are provided for (at-risk, disabilities, expert learners)
  • The reliability and functionality of delivery mechanisms are continuously evaluated
  • Learner-centered courseware is provided
  • Feedback from learners is taken seriously and used for continuous improvement
  • Courses that students want are available when they want them
  • Connectivity to multiple opportunities for learning and service is provided"
    (Sloan-C, Quality Framework)
An overall access plan needs to be an official part of any online learning initiative and needs to be established prior to the development of classes to ensure that all courses will comply with the guidelines.
Faculty Satisfaction (P. 5)
Faculty should be pleased with teaching online and should have a sense of personal satisfaction with their virtual instruction. The teaching of online courses should be fully integrated into the academic culture of the institution and faculty members should be supported and acknowledged accordingly. Special emphasis should be made to cultivate a culture of continual improvement and dissemination of information and research about those improvements given the relative youth of the online medium. Some of the ways in which this can be achieved are:
  • "Faculty satisfaction metrics show improvement over time
  • Faculty contribute to, and benefit from online teaching
  • Faculty are rewarded for teaching online and for conducting research about improving teaching online
  • Sharing of faculty experiences, practices and knowledge about online learning is part of the institutional knowledge sharing structure
  • There is parity in workload between classroom and online teaching
  • Significant technical support and training are provided by the institution"
    (Sloan-C, Quality Framework)
Putting systems in place that will help to ensure faculty satisfaction is a powerful way to make sure that an institutional culture which supports the online environment is cultivated.
Student Satisfaction (P. 6)
Above all, students should be successful in their learning and should feel satisfied with their experiences. Because of the newness of online learning, students need to be well supported in their introduction to the medium. Orientation and student services need to be on par with on-the-ground resources and may need to be enhanced to meet the needs of a distributed student body. Concerted efforts need to be made to determine student satisfaction with both the delivery and results of online learning and that data needs to be considered and acted on accordingly. Some of the things to look for are:
  • "Discussion and interaction with instructors and peers is satisfactory
  • Actual learning experiences match expectations
  • Satisfaction with services (advising, registration, access to materials) is at least as good as on the traditional campus
  • Orientation for how to learn online is satisfactory
  • Outcomes are useful for career, professional and academic development"
    (Sloan-C, Quality Framework)
Given the power of the online teaching medium, its broad appeal, and rapid expansion within all kinds of institutions (Lytle, Nov. 11, 2011), it is very important that standards exist to help guide the development of new courses, programs, and even universities. The Sloan Consortium has made an excellent resource available in the publication of their 5Pillars and the accompanying Effective Practices web site which invites contributions from instructors about their online education practices and resources that they find most helpful. This resource list is growing on a daily basis and provides an excellent starting place for those interested in online learning or who may be actively developing their own courses for delivery on the Internet. Check it out.
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