A Guide for Implementing a Quality Assurance Institutional Review Tool for Blended Learning

Abstract

This guide and tool has been designed to support higher education institutions to review, or audit, their readiness to offer blended learning courses. Users of the guide and tool will benchmark their institution’s status with blended learning across a range of categories that includes policy, infrastructure, partnerships, learner support, professional development of staff, and others. The guide and tool is comprised of survey and on-site review templates, and as an OER carrying a CC BY-SA 4.0 license, the guide and tool can be modified to suit an institution’s own needs. The guide portion of the publication provides users with a step-by-step roadmap to execute the review - including forming a QA team, proposed timelines, and gathering and analysing data. The final report of the tool serves to demonstrate to senior management or other factions of an institution, an evidence-based document that includes an improvement plan to be subsequently implemented to ameliorate disparities. The guide and tool can be used iteratively as blended learning provision matures and as a means to further a culture of quality assurance in a given institution.