November 2004 — Exclusive

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Guidelines for Selecting Quality K-12 Online Courses

By Dr. Patricia Deubel

Management and Support Systems

Are secure administrative, technical and personal support systems available to instructors and students, which ensure uninterrupted, successful participation in the online environment?

Management should ensure that student work and personal data are secure as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (Fulton 2002). Technical assistance for both students and teachers should be available, including written online directions regarding the use of media. Management should provide teachers and students with orientation sessions for using the features contained in the course instruction delivery system (Phipps and Merisotis 2000). Berman and Pape (in Russo 2001) said it is critical that schools which offer online courses select someone to provide on-site support to students and to serve as a liaison with the online program staff. Student support systems should include guidance and administrative services, as well as a place to resolve conflicts. Instructor support should include access to other online practitioners, which would enable discussions of pedagogical and curricular issues (Fulton 2002).

Key to instructor success, and also to minimize costs of online instruction, is the use of a course management system. According to Twigg (2003), sophisticated software packages enable instructors to monitor student progress and performance, track their time on task, and intervene on an individualized basis, as needed. Course management systems can generate automatic messages such as suggesting additional activities based on homework and quiz performance, or encouraging greater participation in online discussions. Two other features that assist both faculty and students are an automated assessment of exercises, quizzes and tests in subjects that can be assessed in a standardized format, as well as modular online or CD-ROM-based tutorials presented with an interactive format.

EduTools (http://edutools.info) — originally developed by Bruce Landon and British Columbia ’s Centre for Curriculum, Transfer & Technology — is a Web site that helps educators select and evaluate online course management systems. The site analysis includes technical specifications, instructional design values, tools and features, ease of use, potential for collaboration, and compliance with standards for more than 50 products. Resources to learn more about student services and e-learning policies are also available (Deubel 2003b). A key question to ask potential K-12 vendors is how their system supports data entry into a standard student information system for state reporting.

Technological Infrastructure

D'es the technological infrastructure support attainment of learning outcomes for all students?

Learning outcomes, not the availability of technology, should determine the technology used to deliver course content (Phipps and Merisotis 2000). In addition, the National Association of State Boards of Education (2001) stated, “All Internet sites operated by public education institutions should meet Web accessibility standards as is now required for all federal agencies.” The Web Accessibility Initiative (

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