Applying the OLC Blended Learning Scorecard at an Emerging eLearning Institution

Glori Hinck

University of St. Thomas

Lisa Burke

University of St. Thomas

Keywords: quality assurance, Online Learning Consortium, Blended Learning


Abstract

Our private, nonprofit university has a long history of quality, classroom-based instruction. The business college created our first blended program 25 years ago; however, little additional online or blended programming was offered until recently. Changing student demographics and market demand for flexible delivery models have caused the focus to shift to expanding our online and blended program and course portfolio. An eLearning center has been created to support the development of new online learning options. In 2012, we offered only one blended program. Today, we have three blended programs and two fully online programs with expectations for further rapid growth. However, if the quality of these new programs is not adequately assured, the reputation of the programs may suffer. Accreditation standards alone may not be enough to guide the quality of online and blended programs, and supplemental quality assurance measures may be required. This presentation will focus specifically on the blended learning experiences of our business college. We began to consider the OLC quality scorecard for online programs several years ago but felt this tool did not adequately address our blended environment. After participating in the 2015 OLC Accelerate conference session, Quality Blended Programs—Deploying a New Quality Scorecard, we decided to implement the OLC Quality Scorecard for Blended Learning Programs as soon as it became available. One year later, we began to use the new scorecard to identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement, and for assessment of the effectiveness of our blended learning programs. We will discuss the processes and politics involved in the deployment of the blended learning scorecard at a neophyte eLearning institution involved in rapid expansion of blended offerings. Our approaches to integrating the blended quality scorecard into quality assurance processes will be presented.

Obtain the OLC Quality Scorecard for Blended Learning from the OLC website.


Author Biography

Glori Hinck, University of St. Thomas

Glori Hinck DC, EdD is an instructional designer/technologist for St. Thomas E-Learning and Research. Her doctoral dissertation studied quality assurance in online MBA programs. Glori also teaches online workshops for OLC.