A draft accreditation framework was developed through a synthesis of the findings from an extensive literature review. This review focused on the indicators for quality in online learning. Workshops with senior learning and teaching tertiary education leaders, were conducted across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore to iteratively refine and progress the draft accreditation framework. At the end of this phase the first version of the TELAS Framework was conceptualised.

The TELAS Framework was further refined by the TELAS Strategic Advisory Group and a National Summit involving key Australasian senior higher education leaders. These stakeholders also conceptualised a formal accreditation process and associated resourcing for the operationalisation of the Framework.

The revised TELAS Framework was iteratively further developed through the facilitation of extensive stakeholder consultative workshops with educational technology practitioners and students. An online survey was also implemented to gather feedback on the TELAS framework from practitioners across the global tertiary education sector. This consultation phase was a vehicle by which the draft accreditation framework was significantly progressed with the development of performance criteria and measures with associated quality indicators. Administrative and organisational details for the facilitation of the formal accreditation process were finalised.

Feedback from Phase 3 was reviewed by an identified TELAS Reference Group^[3] to finalise the Framework. The Framework was subsequently edited by Susan Hoadley from the Linguistics Department at Macquarie University. At the end of 2019, a series of face-to-face pilot workshops were conducted with educational technology practitioners from Macquarie University and Australian Catholic University. These workshops served as a mechanism for user testing and to further validate the TELAS Framework. They also assisted in formulating the Peer Reviewer workshop program that will be offered throughout Australasia to create TELAS Certified Reviewers. Feedback from these workshops endorsed the framework and warranted it as a valuable tool for guiding and assessing the design of quality online learning environments.

This phase focused on operationalising TELAS. Between 2020 and mid-2021, the TELAS website, self-assessment tool and app were finalised. The first Peer Reviewer workshops were offered to the higher education sector in 2022, enabling peer reviews of submitted learning packages to commence. Badges were also finalised for workshop attendees, certified peer reviewers and accredited learning packages.

This phase focused on extending TELAS from learning-package accreditation to institution-level assurance. Institutional TELAS was developed and piloted in partnership with the University of New England, before being made available for implementation across the higher education sector. This phase also included the development of Domain 5, comprising Standards 9 and 10.

This phase involved contextualising TELAS for New Zealand. Following consultation with New Zealand colleagues and the wider TELAS community, the reviewer support website was updated with New Zealand-specific guidance, examples and Māori terminology. The contextualised material is identified by a silver fern icon, supporting reviewers to apply the TELAS standards from a New Zealand perspective.

This phase responded to the rapid emergence of generative AI in higher education. Consultation was undertaken with the TELAS community regarding the proposed changes, and the outcomes were communicated to stakeholders. Following approval by the Advisory Board, minor refinements were made to the TELAS Framework, and the reviewer support website was updated with additional guidance on AI in learning, teaching and assessment.