Recently, many institutions have been using the Quality Matters (QM) program to implement quality control methods. Quality Matters is a global organization leading quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. Four key aspects of the Quality Matters (QM) program, which is focused on enhancing the quality of online education.

1. Focused on Student Success:
   QM prioritizes student success by emphasizing key factors such as learner engagement, accessibility, and the alignment of learning objectives with assessments and activities. This focus on these elements leads to improved learning outcomes for students.
   
   
2. Alignment with Accreditation Standards:
   The QM Quality Assurance process aligns with regional and national accreditation standards, making it easier for institutions to demonstrate compliance. QM plays a critical role in institutional accreditation for online quality, offering a structured process for quality assurance through design reviews.
   
   
3. Customized Approach:
   QM provides a flexible and customizable approach to quality assurance, allowing institutions to tailor the implementation of QM Standards to match their specific goals, resources, and priorities.
   
   
4. Continuous Improvement:
   QM fosters a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging institutions to regularly evaluate and refine their online courses based on feedback and data. This iterative process ensures that courses remain relevant and effective over time.

The Quality Matters (QM) provides a quantitative measurement for evaluating the quality of the online course. The following are the eight general standards and their objectives:

1. Course Overview and Introduction:
   This standard ensures that the overall course design is clear to students and helps them understand how to get started on the course. Researchers have found that students perceive clear instructions on how to get started in a course and where to find various course components as the most important feature of a course design (Hixon et al., 2015). Student Perceptions of the Impact of Quality Matters–Certified Online Courses on Their Learning and Engagement Online Learning Journal – Volume 23 Issue 4 – December 2019 5 217
   
   
2. Learning Objectives:
   This standard ensures that learning objectives are clearly stated from a student perspective, are measurable, are properly aligned, are easy to understand, and help students focus their efforts in the course. Learning objectives define the course outcomes the instructor expects students to achieve. Research shows that using learning objectives in courses results in more efficient use of instructional time and improves learning outcomes (Swan et al., 2012).
   
   
3. Assessment and Measurement:
   This standard ensures that assessments are aligned with the learning objectives, are consistent with course activities and resources, and clearly explain how the course grades are calculated. Learning objectives provide a method by which to tailor assessments to individual assignments and activities. Conveying clear grading expectations to students helps them focus their efforts, produce higher quality work, better grades, and less anxiety about their course assignments (Reddy & Andrade, 2010). Based on the research findings of Jonsson (2014), student performance greatly improved as a result of clarified expectations through the use of rubrics.
   
   
4. Instructional Materials:
   This standard ensures that instructional materials are comprehensive to achieve course objectives or competencies, and thoughtfully selected to support student learning outcomes. Based on her research, Murphy (2000) noted that instructional materials for online courses are effective when they are written with precise objectives and learning activities that are intertwined within the learning units.
   
   
5. Course Activities and Learner Interaction:
   This standard ensures that forms of interaction incorporated in the course motivate students to attain course objectives and promote learning. Research shows that intentionally designing courses for increasing students’ engagement can positively impact students’ academic achievement (Knapp & Paull, 2013). Legon and Runyon (2007) found that courses designed with a QM rubric resulted in improving student learning outcomes, increasing student–content interaction, and decreasing student questions regarding course expectations.
   
   
6. Course Technology:
   This standard ensures that the course navigation and technology support student engagement and are used to achieve learning objectives. Any technology tools selected to be used by students should align with learning objectives by effectively supporting instructional materials, learning activities, and assessment instruments.
   
   
7. Learner Support:
   This standard ensures that the course provides links to resources for students to access institutional academic policies, technology support, and student support services essential to their success. This helps direct learners to services that can assist them in meeting course expectations and lead them through the institution. Young and Norgard (2006) suggest that technical support is vital to student satisfaction with online courses.
   
   
8. Accessibility and Usability:
   This standard ensures that the course provides documentation on the accessibility of the course materials, tools, and activities for all students. Meeting this standard helps focus learners’ attention on the things that are most relevant and reduce time wasted in trying to decide what needs to be accomplished (Legon, 2015).