It’s not everyday you are invited to present to the Chinese Government on quality assurance of online education. This came about through a virtual introduction from Professor Ren Yi, PVC (International) at UniSQ, to Rachel, the First Secretary (Education and Research) at the Australian Embassy in Beijing. In this introduction Ren stated “UniSQ is delighted to part of the case study for online programs. UniSQ is also part of digital alliance organised by Ministry of Education in China.”

Ok, I can do this! No problem ….hmmm.

First, a meeting with Rachel and her colleague Alison in Beijing. They shared the brief “As part of the dialogue, we want to include case studies from Australian institutions where institutions can talk about how they approach delivery and quality assurance of online education.”  In brief they were looking for case studies that shared:

• how we deliver learning online and the scaffolding around this
• what quality control measures we have in place
• how we respond to a quality assurance regime when we are self-accrediting (in some programs)

The hidden agenda here was an important one: to hopefully change China’s position on qualifications gained online.

This is obviously an important strategy on behalf of the Australian government, and despite the fact China have built their own ‘Smart Education Platform’ there continues to be opposition to recognising online learning as a valid, accessible and flexible as well as quality way to learn and receive qualifications. Without going into all the details here China continues to preference on campus learning (as do other countries!) but it would be to Australia’s advantage to encourage and support more online learning within and beyond China for Chinese students.

So…another challenge for me, if I choose to accept – which I did, of course!

Title of presentation: CASE STUDY Providing Quality Online Learning at the University of Southern Queensland

My 20-minute presentation seemed quite different to what others presented. I focused on the actual delivery of the learning when online and how to provide equivalent learning experiences and opportunities for all learners. I shared ideas around flexibility, choice, accessibility, and the importance of shifting belief from synchronous to asynchronous learning as the glue that holds online learning together. I did this from the UniSQ perspective in case study format, as required. 

I do hope I get another opportunity to interact with China about online learning soon!