Abstract :
Despite the proliferation of online education, concerns remain about the
quality of online programmes. Quality assurance (QA) has become a
prominent issue, not only for educational institutions and accreditors, but also
for students and employers alike. This paper describes some of the rather
unique QA processes used at Universitas 21 Global (U21G), one of the new
breed of online academic institutions, and its relation to U21pedagogica, the
independent agency that approves U21G’s programmes. These distinctive QA
processes relate to five main areas, namely, content authoring, courseware
development, adjunct faculty recruitment, pedagogy and delivery. The authors
believe that these QA processes have contributed significantly to student
satisfaction and student retention at U21G. Furthermore, these QA processes
can also be adapted to suit more traditional ‘brick-and-mortar’ universities
offering online programmes.
