137 Oliver, R. & Herrington, J. 2003). Factors influencing quality online learning experiences. In (G. Davies & E. Stacey Eds.) Quality Education @ a Distance. London: Kluwer Academic Publishers. FACTORS INFLUENCING QUALITY ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCES Ron Oliver & Jan Herrington Edith Cowan University Abstract The gradual uptake of online learning as a delivery medium for higher education necessitates a shift in the metrics used to determine quality and success. While the attributes that have typically been used as benchmarks for quality in learning remain the same, that factors that impact on these factors have changed and it is these factors that form the focus of this paper . The aim of this paper is to explore from both a conceptual and grounded perspective, the defining factors in the quality of students' learning experiences and to consider how can these be optimised in online learning settings. Keywords online learning, quality DETERMINING QUALITY IN LEARNING If we consider a student's learning experience as a composite of all experiences associated with completion of a formal course of study, there are a number of discrete and connected elements that can be addressed which will have impacted on the notion of quality in relation to the learning process. In assessing the overall quality of the learning experience, it is necessary to consider the quality of each of these elements as limitations in any will necessarily impact on the student's learning experiences and subsequent learning outcomes (eg. Bonk & Dennen, 2001). The factors that one would typically consider in such explorations would include such items as: the administration of the course, the nature of the course itself, its objectives and aims and how well these fit within the overall program in which it sits, the context in which the learning is undertaken, the level of engagement associated with learning in the course, the scope and extent of the resources and the forms of learning support. Often these factors are assessed through questionnaires canvassing student perceptions and impressions (eg. Devlin, 2002) When looking from first principles, a quality learning experience supports the forms of conceptual change that leaves the learner with some planned and intended form of capability. A quality learning experience needs to arrive at this endpoint in an efficient manner. It needs to provide the learner with appropriate forms of encouragement, cognitive engagement and feedback that lead from an initial to an intended state underpinned by a knowledge base that provides context and relevance (e. Grabinger, 1996). Quality in learning A number of writers have sought to describe quality learning experiences from a cognitive perspective. For example, Savery & Duffy (1995) argue that there are four principles that