Chapter 8: Assessment Strategy For Self-Paced Online Learning

Online education is growing at an astronomical rate, which means that online courses must be designed to deliver the same or better quality of education that an on-ground, face-to-face course can deliver. In Taylor, Parker, Lenhart, and Patten’s (2011) study, college presidents (77%) reported that their institutions offer online courses with 62% predicting that in 10 years more than half of the textbooks used by undergraduate students will be entirely digital. Survey results showed that one in four college graduates have taken an online course; however, of students who have graduated in the last 10 years, nearly half have taken an online course. Furthermore, among college graduates who have taken an online course, 15% have earned a degree entirely online (Taylor et al., 2011). Online learning is now an integral component of all mainstream education and training environments. The new education gold standard is access to “high-quality, academically rigorous anywhere/anytime programs” (J. Flores, quoted in Rickard, 2010, p. 1). Thus, quality self-paced online learning is what educational environments seek.