Quality assurance and online teaching and learning: first steps

In the late 90s the University of Wollongong (Australia) recognised the need for the establishment of flexible course delivery. The increasing globalisation of the world of tertiary education has added to the pressure for all institutions to address issues associated with the delivery of a quality education. Many systems have been developed internationally, but to be truly useful in changing the process and ensuring the students (the clients) are happy, quality assurance has to have a local component. To address the issue of QA and online teaching and learning the authors are looking at a two phase process, the first of which is the development of an initial audit tool examining online technical aspects followed by the collaborative development of a peer review process centred on pedagogical issues. To help inform the process and provide a 'user's view of quality', surveys were conducted of student and staff users of WebCT.