QM+ Quality Standards and Checklist Tools: Frequently Asked Questions

The purpose of this document is to capture questions that arise during the Learning Design subcommittee’s presentations of the Quality Matters Plus (QM+) quality standards and checklist tools developed for Colorado Online @ during the spring 2022 semester.

Question: Can I share the checklists with others at my college?

Answer: As of May 2022, the Colorado Online @ project team approved the Learning Design subcommittee’s recommendations to adopt QM+ standards and the Healthy Course Checklist as resources that reflect Colorado Online @ course design standards. Colleges may implement these tools into their course design, course review, and professional development processes. The Learning Design subcommittee is continuing to develop implementation resources for the colleges through the fall 2022 and spring 2023 semesters. More information on Colorado Online @ developments are available on the Colorado Online @ blog.

Question: Will someone from CCCS be reviewing all online courses with these checklists?

Answer: No. The centralized learning design unit of the system will not have the capacity to review all online courses at system colleges. The Healthy Course Checklist and other checklist assets are embedded into the Academy phase (Phase 1) of the learning design process for Ready-to-Teach (RtT) courses at Colorado Online @. However, individual colleges will be provided the checklist tools to integrate into existing processes. The Learning Design subcommittee is working on gathering information from colleges to create a recommended process for reviewing courses with the use of the checklist tools, particularly to support colleges that do not currently have review processes in place.

Question: Accessibility is difficult for faculty and instructors to ensure within online learning design. Who is going to be responsible for accessibility?

Answer: Accessibility was identified as a key value in the 2020 Consortial Model report from Joe Garcia and Landon Pirius. The report asserts an overarching goal that the model will “[e]nsure equity of access to online programs and courses” and states that “CCCS will develop a common course template so that all fully online courses having common learning outcomes, are ADA accessible, and have a common look, feel, and experience,” later using the phrase “100% accessible.”

The accessibility checklist is built on standard recommendations of WCAG 2.0 AA to help faculty/instructors and staff fulfill QM+ standards derived from both the Quality Matters rubric and the Universal Design for Learning framework. No matter who ultimately fulfills the role of ensuring accessibility in the Colorado Online @ process (and this will likely require collaboration across roles, as accessibility is not a single person’s responsibility), the checklist provides a guide for those baseline expectations.

We recognize that further resources and training will be necessary to promote success in the goal of ensuring accessible online courses. The Learning Design subcommittee will continue to collaborate with other work groups to identify, procure, and create those resources. You can help by providing your own feedback about what resources you would need to meet the expectations represented on the accessibility checklist.

Question: What resources will Colorado Online @ provide to help faculty, instructors, and supervisors interpret and apply the QM+ standards?

Answer: It will take time to develop the resources needed to fully support the QM+ standards for Colorado Online @. At this time, the committee recommends creating a guidebook to assist with interpreting the QM+ standards (access a guidebook example page). The committee also intends to recommend a systemwide subscription to Quality Matters (QM), expanded QM training, as well as development of new training related to using the QM+ checklist tools and applying QM+ standards. You can help by providing your own feedback about what resources you would need to use and apply the QM+ standards.