National Standards of Quality for Online Courses5

The Quality Online Courses standards were the first set of national standards established by iNACOL and were published in 2007. After conducting a comprehensive literature review of existing course standards, iNACOL determined that the Southern Regional Education Board’s (SREB)6 Standards for Quality Online Courses7 were the most comprehensive standards available. In addition, they were already in use by 16 states that are part of SREB. The iNACOL standards are a full endorsement of these standards along with an additional standard addressing 21st Century Skills.

The course standards are comprehensive in nature addressing the following topic areas:

  1. The Content standards address items such as learning objectives being clearly stated, content being aligned to appropriate state and national standards, content having sufficient rigor, incorporation of information literacy in the curriculum, respecting copyright, and issues such as academic integrity and privacy.
     
  2. The Instructional Design standards focus on appropriate organization of content, level of student engagement, differentiated learning, higher order thinking skills, and appropriate instructor-student and student-student interaction.
     
  3. The Student Assessment standards identify the need for assessment to be frequent and ongoing, consistent with the course objectives, and helpful to the student in understanding his/her progress in the class.
     
  4. The Technology standards address areas such as ease of navigation, allowing teachers to add content to the course, orienting the student to the environment, level of technical support, and providing information to students regarding technology requirements.
     
  5. The Course Evaluation and Management standards look at how feedback is obtained about the effectiveness of the course, how the course is maintained and updated, and does the course provider have appropriate authority to offer the course in the locations served.
     
  6. The 21st Century Skills standard requires the course to emphasize those items the Partnership for 21st Century Skills8 has identified as important skills for today’s society.

Download a complete copy of the National Standards of Quality for Online Courses.

References for footnotes can be found on the resources page or click on the footnote number for a direct link.