Without having taken every online course offered by every learning institution this is a difficult question to answer but indeed in my opinion is THE most important question when selecting an online course.

When an online course is advertised they will give a brief description of the course and what will be covered. Most online courses will state the name and credentials of the online instructor (and if they don’t - be warned!). Online courses are usually given by an ‘instructor’ which does not indicate if the instructor is trained in teaching and indeed many are not.

Online courses offered by universities tend to be run and managed by a separate department of the university and does not follow the same university hierarchy as one finds on campus. Online courses are not for example under the supervision of the Dean of the faculty.

However better universities and colleges have a vested interested in keeping up academic standards and reputation and will require instructors to adhere to certain academic standards but there is really no way of telling before hand how knowledgeable is the instructor on the subject and what is the standard and quality of the course. Some students make judgments based on the credentials of the instructor and/or the text book being used in the course.

Unlike conventional on-campus learning, students do not have the chance to ‘meet’ instructors before hand to get an idea of the standard and quality of the course. Nor have I found on the online courses website there is no possibility where students can exchange personal experiences and testimonies on their experiences on online course they have taken.