Evaluating Online Programs

Systematic evaluation of distance-education programs is necessary for program improvement (formative) and accountability (summative). When evaluating distance education programs, it is advisable to consult the best practices literature for determining the criteria and standards for quality programming in order to judge the merit and worth of the program under consideration. The most frequently cited reference for best practices comes from the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (1997) (http://www.wiche.edu/ telecom/), otherwise known as WICHE. Pennsylvania State University (PSU) (1998) published a document for designing distance-education programs that incorporate the literature base of best practices. WICHE and PSU offer principles for best practices in distance education in regard to curriculum and instruction, institutional context and commitment, and evaluation and assessment. General concerns with each category should be considered in developing an instrument for measuring quality in distance-education programs (Law, Hawkes, & Murphy, 2002).