Q: "Quality" in my online course is a challenge for me. How do I measure student outcome?

A: More artificial intelligence tools are coming to support education. Read about Cerego technology that used adaptive learning approach to enhance online learning.
I also learned that IAIED society journal, International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, is now indexed by ERIC - see http://eric.ed.gov/ and the publications at 
http://eric.ed.gov/?q=source%3A%22international+journal+of+artificial+intelligence+in+education%22

This will make IJAIED far more visible to a broader Education audience. Take advantage, collaborate!

Q: What technology is available to improve students' writing strategies?

A: There is an option, as I discovered, to contact local researchers at the university who are developing educational technology tools. At Arizona State university we are fortunate to have a Learning Science Institute. Recently I started implementing W-Pal, a writing tutor, in collaboration with Danielle McNamara group at LSI ASU, in the student success class for freshmen. This intelligent tutoring system helps students to make their written communication more effective. http://www.soletlab.com/ I encourage you to expand your network in the direction of artificial intelligence in educational technology - the resources are there.