Voluntary Online-Teaching Standards Come Amid Concerns Over Quality

As learning over the Internet grows in both popularity and controversy, experts are hoping that a new set of national standards for online teaching may help bring clarity and credibility to an industry that some analysts say sorely needs both.

The voluntary standards , released Feb. 21 by the North American Council for Online Learning, or NACOL, a trade association based in Vienna, Va., are designed to serve as a checklist for good online teaching.

The new standards will “allow policymakers to have some sort of independent review of the online programs,” and give course providers a reference point for their own programs’ quality, said John F. Watson, the founder of Evergreen Consulting Associates, an Evergreen, Colo.-based firm that publishes “Keeping Pace With K-12 Online Learning,” an annual policy report on...