How do students rate quality of online courses?

The podcast "Trends and Issues in Instructional Design, Educational Technology, and Learning Sciences, episode 90" mentions as a trend the increased sophistication of both online learners and providers of online learning.  They recommend an article that typifies this trend.  The article discussing a recent report developed from a survey of online college students reported that these students care about the quality not just the convenience of their online classes (Dobo, 2017).  As I read through the article, the author concluded this from the survey question which said that "60 percent of students who took an online course reported that they would change something about how they chose the course if they could do it again. Many said they wished they had shopped around more and contacted more programs before enrolling" (Dobo, 2017).  This left me wondering:  What would they change?  Was this a matter of quality or something else?  I ordered a copy of the report from The Learning House who sponsored the survey and is a software service provider for various types of academic software.  As I anxiously awaited the link to download the survey, I listened to the podcasters' thoughts on this topic.  They say that this article is a good recap.  I do not agree, the article is very short with general insight into the survey results or report.  It certainly does not relate to the title of the article which states that "students want quality, not just convenience" (Dobo, 2017).  There is nothing in the article that allows me as an instructor to know what the students would change and if any of the things they would change actually relate to the quality of the course.

Thirty minutes later, I am still waiting for the report so I look at the key findings on The Learning House website (https://www.learninghouse.com/ocs2017/?utm_source=LH.com&utm_medium=Thumbnail&utm_campaign=OCS2017) where they state four key findings:
 (1) 25% of students in online classes want to be part of a community; (2) 23% more online students are expanding their search to more schools; (3) 59% of online students experience buyer's remorse; and (4) 63% of online students are aware of competency based education.  The only finding that is helpful to me as an instructor is the first one.  At least a quarter of the students want more interaction and community building.  The other three could have various causes which may or may not be the quality of the online course.  As a researcher, I would like to see the survey questions so that I my understand the findings described both in the article and in the report.  Since this survey and report are sponsored by a service provider who has a stake in the results, it is very tough for me to take any of the results seriously.

I finally received the report.  It is 24 pages so I will read it and let you know what I think in a subsequent post.  If the podcasters and article writer had done their job and read the report (which it does not appear they did), this would not be necessary.  All in all, I think both were very misleading to the listener/reader about the results of the survey.  It remains to be seen whether the questions line up with the report conclusions and whether reading the report is worth the time and I actually find out the answer to my original question which is how do students rate the quality of online courses.  I will let you know.

Brown, A. & Green, T. (Producers). (2017, June 30). Trends and issues in instructional design, educational technology, and learning sciences, Episode 90 [Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from http://trendsandissues.com/.

Dobo, N. (2017, June 28). "Online learning: Students want quality, not just convenience", Retrieved from http://hechingerreport.org/online-learning-students-want-quality-not-just-convenience/.

Learning House. "ONLINE COLLEGE STUDENTS 2017", Retrieved from https://www.learninghouse.com/ocs2017/.