Quality models in online and open education around the globe: state of the art and recommendations

This quality standard study has been undertaken on behalf of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), a global membership organisation in the field of open and distance education, and in formal consultative relations with UNESCO. The study has been conducted by a research team coordinated by the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU). The objectives for the study are to establish an overview and analysis of the global situation with regard to existing relevant standards and guidelines for open, distance, flexible, and online education, including e-learning, encompassing the fundamental notion of students as active participants in an engaging learning experience. The study will provide a comprehensive baseline overview of international quality standards on open and distance learning to underpin further international work by ICDE on quality in open and distance learning e.g. actions in collaboration with members, as well as with UNESCO and OECD.

More than 40 quality standards models or guidelines from organisations were reviewed. The review illustrates that there are many existing schemes and models for quality assurance of open, distance, flexible and online education, including e-learning. They share many common features and many are designed to offer flexibility for institutions to adapt to suit national and institutional contexts. The most common structure encountered presents criteria for performance in aspects of institutional management, curriculum design, student support and other elements of educational provision, further subdivision into performance indicators and indications of sources of evidence. From the research study, a set of recommendations were formulated, together with proposed actions for stakeholders.

Summarising the survey, analysis and recommendations: there is an extremely large variety of quality tools catering to many audiences and needs; there is no significant gap in terms of analysis of institutional systems, which would require a new scheme to be developed; in the case of recognition and unbundling, which are not e-learning specific, there are definite deficiencies with scope for further developments; all the quality systems suffer certain deficiencies (lack of universal applicability, unclear which maturity levels they are best for, widely divergent quality of reviews and of advice given, challenges to respond to change, etc.); there is a role for ICDE working with other international organisations in the following main areas, all of which are critical: providing a register of effective quality systems, and a guide to members on which are appropriate for their context and purpose; addressing common issues around training, best practice sharing, localisation, etc., for providers of quality systems; working with international organisations to ensure a harmonised regulatory environment; and working with international agencies to ensure student engagement in determining quality standards.

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