University of Tasmania, Australia

The Exemplary QA Standards set out elements of recognised 'best practice' in the use of online technologies and the tools for learning and teaching. They are provided for staff who wish to pursue excellence in their online teaching.

Purpose of the exemplary standards

These quality standards build on the University's Base Quality Assurance Standards for online untis. The purpose of the exemplary standards is to provide a benchmark of best practice for the application and integration of online technologies into teaching programs. More specifically, these exemplary standards can:

• serve as a developmental guide for unit developers in the design, development and implementation of their online unit
• act as a checklist of best practice for schools, faculty and individual developers in evaluation and review of units (e.g. in relation to marketing and promotion within and outside the University, submission of evidence as part of a Teaching Excellence Award or Teaching Merit Certificate).

These standards need to be placed in the context of quality assurance processes for the teaching unit as a whole, and the Overall Quality Assurance Framework laid out in the University's Quality Assurance Manual - particularly those QA processes related to teaching and support of student learning.

Use of the exemplary standards

As a unit developer you can apply and integrate online technologies and activities within your teaching unit(s) in a myriad of ways, so certain standards may not be applicable. It is for you to judge the appropriateness of each standard upon consideration of the rationale provided.

The likely applicability of each standard to the particular model of online engagement to be adopted—namely web supported (WS), web dependent (WD), or web based (i.e. fully online) (WB)— is indicated. (For elaboration of these modes see the Models of online teaching and learning (PDF 23KB).

More generally, when applying these standards keep foremost in your mind the primary educational intentions of adopting an online 'solution' - whether it be to:

• facilitate communications between students and teaching staff
• provide access to a wide range of quality electronic learning resources
• improve administration and learner support
• facilitate or otherwise improve assessment (including self assessment) and related feedback.

Any judgements of quality or appropriateness need to relate to these more fundamental educational intentions.

Formulation of the standards

These standards were first released to the University community in January 2002, and have been revised twice since then by the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) in the light of feedback received from users and benchmarks of good practice elsewhere and in the literature.

For further information

If you have any questions or would like to make comments on any aspect of these Standards please contact CALT.