A Quality Scorecard for the Administration of Online Learning Programs in Higher Education

Abstract

The development of the Internet has forever changed higher education and distance learning programs throughout the world. Prior to its arrival, distance education, also called distance learning or distributed education, used varied methods for course delivery such as mail correspondence, telecourses, or satellite delivery, and was clearly on the periphery of higher education. When course delivery using the Internet became an option – creating the new phrase online education – it wasn’t long before enrolments began to rapidly increase and online education became firmly entrenched within higher education, especially in the US. In fact, numerous studies cite tremendous growth in online education, which has outpaced that of traditional higher education with the majority of accredited institutions in the United States offering online courses (Allen & Seaman, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014; Parsad & Lewis, 2008).