The Quality Matters Annual conference is presently in Session, and while we at PSA are not attending, we can see what is up in the world of quality design for online courses.
Experts will address competency-based education (CBE), including the universal design principles
quality programs share. The panel will discuss key features of various institutional models and approaches to
program design, instructional technology and delivery, pedagogy, and faculty roles. A policy expert
will update participants on competency-based education-related federal regulation and policy
including the HEA Reauthorization, Experimental Sites, and financial aid.
Of interest to PSA, we can access the app if we have registered for the actual conference. If we were at the conference we could participate in a scavenger hunt using Twitter to report back. Good to see elements of gamification is included in the conference.
It takes time to generate a consensus about “best practices” in the slowest of times; in our present period of very rapid innovation, it’s many times harder to find consensus “on the fly”.
But it’s great to have groups such as “Quality Matters” doing the heavy lifting and hard work of trying to identify what constitutes a “quality” DLE. Agree we want to keep an eye on what they come up with.
Maybe when Julia Parra comes for interview in a few weeks, can ask her about how such rubrics might be changing and developing.