Michigan Virtual University Online Course Design Standards Attract Worldwide Interest from Industry and Education Arenas
LANSING, Mich.-April 10, 2002-Michigan Virtual University announces the release
of a comprehensive set of standards that can be used to develop and evaluate
the quality of online courses. Developed by MVU instructional designers Noel
Estabrook and Peter Arashiro, the standards are based on decades of research
and the best thinking in the field of instructional design. These rigorous standards
will help guide the design of courses delivered via the Internet and help ensure
they adhere to effective teaching and learning practices.
Using these guidelines, potential course developers can create online courses
that meet standards of technological functionality and appropriateness, usability
and instructional design (i.e. is the course pedagogically sound). These standards
include benchmarks, measurement criteria and prescriptions for quality online
learning. This Web-based resource also includes a downloadable course evaluator
tool-a detailed checklist based on the MVU standards to help developers measure
the quality of existing online courses.
In the first two weeks it was available via the MVU Web site, close to 150 institutions
from around the world, in both education and industry, downloaded the evaluation
tool and expressed interest in the course standards. A partial list includes
companies such as Eli Lilly, Deloitte & Touche, EDS, Oracle Corp. and Motorola
Corp., and educational institutions such as Michigan State University, Utah
State University, Beijing Normal University, British Columbia Institute of Technology
and the University of Applied Science Hamburg.
"MVU has taken a unique approach to applying standards to online courses.
Our standards focus on principles that take into account tried and true instructional
research, as well as principles that apply to the unique challenges of online
instruction," says Estabrook. "In addition, our standards pay very
close attention to the different types of learning and performances that can
occur as a result of instruction instead of treating all courses the same."
The standards and the evaluation tool are available by going to
http://standards.mivu.org/. These resources are currently available without
charge, following an "open source" model that seeks to improve the
overall quality of online courses, shares knowledge and invites feedback. MVU
is looking at expanding the evaluation tool and developing a course design tool
in the future.
Michigan Virtual University (MVU) is a private, non-profit corporation established
in 1998 by Governor John Engler and the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
to provide online learning opportunities to Michigan’s citizens. MVU does not
grant degrees or certificates or teach courses, but acts as a broker of programs
made available by Michigan’s public and private colleges, universities, and
commercial training providers. MVU is the parent organization of the Michigan
Virtual High School. In addition, MVU manages the Administrator Technology Initiative
(Gates Foundation Grant) and the Information Technology Training Initiative,
which provides more than 700 IT-related learning modules free to students, teachers
and staff. For more information, visit www.mivu.org.
Contact:
Deborah White
(517) 324-5357