A Review of Paradigms for Evaluating the Quality of Online Education Programs

As the demands for public accountability increase for higher education, institutions must demonstrate quality within programs and processes, including those provided through online education. While quality may be elusive to specifically quantify, there have been several recommendations for identifying and defining quality online education that address common areas of program development and administration. This paper explores and compares 13 recommendations and paradigms found in the literature for identifying and evaluating the quality of online education programs in higher education. (Contains 3 tables.)