ITC: 19 – Exploring the Overview and Information Standards for an Online Course Review

Online courses can be especially challenging for students. Due to a number of factors, there tends to be a higher attrition rate than face-to-face courses. However, there are things instructors can do to improve the success of their online courses. Quality course reviews can provide a great path to course success.

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In this episode, we are exploring online quality reviews. We are going to look at a specific tool called OSCQR which stands for the Open SUNY COTE Quality Review and COTE is Center for Online Teaching Excellence. The tool has 50 standards divided into six major areas:

• Overview and information
• Technology and tools
• Design and layout
• Content and activities
• interaction
• Assessment and feedback

We will be focusing on the 10 Overview and Information standards.

OSCQR Standards

By attending to these standards, you can set the stage for your students as they enter your online course. These standards help ensure that you have the necessary supports in place for student success. The specific standards include:

1. Course includes Welcome and Getting Started content.
2. An orientation or overview is provided for the course overall, as well as in each module. Learners know how to navigate and what tasks are due.
3. Course includes a Course Information area that deconstructs the syllabus for learners in a clear and navigable way.
4. A printable syllabus is available to learners (PDF, HTML).
5. Course includes links to relevant campus policies on plagiarism, computer use, filing grievances, accommodating disabilities, etc.
6. Course provides access to learner success resources (technical help, orientation, tutoring).
7. Course information states whether the course is fully online, blended, or web-enhanced.
8. Appropriate methods and devices for accessing and participating in the course are communicated (mobile, publisher websites, secure content, pop-ups, browser issue, microphone, webcam).
9. Course objectives/outcomes are clearly defined, measurable, and aligned to learning activities and assessments.
10. Course provides contact information for instructor, department, and program.

In this episode, I will discuss each of these standards.

Resources

Here are some of the resources I talked about in this episode:

• OSCQR Rubric
• OSCQR – Overview and Information Standards
• Vidyard Go Video
• Screencastify
• ITC: 20 – Exploring the Technology and Tools Standards for an Online Course Review
• ITC: 21 – Exploring the Design and Layout Standards for an Online Course Review
• ITC: 22 – Exploring the Content and Activities Standards for an Online Course Review

This episode of the podcast was put together with the assistance of:

• Music credit: Purple Planet
• Editing assistance: Lost Recording Studio
• Sponsored product: Audible

Adapted from: The OSCQR Rubric, Dashboard, and Process are made available by Online Learning Consortium, Inc. (OLC) under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC By 4.0).