scholarly journals Quality Assurance, Open and Distance Learning, and Australian Universities

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian C. Reid
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Distance Teaching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Face To Face Instruction ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Education Quality Assurance ◽  
Australian Universities

<P>Open and distance education has integrated quality assurance processes since its inception. Recently, the increased use of distance teaching systems, technologies, and pedagogies by universities without a distance education heritage has enabled them to provide flexible learning opportunities. They have done this in addition to, or instead of, face-to-face instruction, yet the practice of quality assurance processes as a fundamental component of distance education provision has not necessarily followed these changes. </P> <P>This paper considers the relationship between notions of quality assurance and open and distance education, between quality assurance and higher education more broadly, and between quality assurance and the implementation of recent quality audits in Australian universities. The paper compares quality portfolios submitted to the Australian Universities Quality Agency by two universities, one involved in distance education, the other not involved. This comparison demonstrates that the relationship is variable, and suggests that reasons for this have more to do with business drivers than with educational rationales. </P> <P><STRONG>Keywords: </STRONG>distance education, quality assurance, online learning, e-learning, audit, higher education</P>

scholarly journals Conceptualising External and Internal Quality Assurance in Higher Education: A Pragmatist Perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Ansah
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Education Quality ◽  
Internal Quality ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Higher Education Quality ◽  
Internal Quality Assurance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Education Quality Assurance

The traditional tension between external and internal quality assurance implementation in higher education appears to be declining, based on a rethinking of the relationship between the two concepts. Although there are quality assurance agencies that still consider external and internal quality assurance as separate entities, most quality assurance agencies now regard the two concepts as complementary. In this paper, a case is put that the present rethinking of external and internal quality assurance in most higher education settings is guided by pragmatism, but not explicitly acknowledged in the literature. For a better appreciation of pragmatists’ influence on the current understanding of the relationship between external and internal quality assurance in higher education, this paper provides a further pragmatist conceptualisation of the two concepts to enhance stakeholders’ appreciation of employing a pragmatist approach to quality assurance practices in higher education. The conceptualisation is done through a pragmatist analysis of selected international accounts on higher education quality assurance. The paper concludes that pragmatism helps to understand external and internal quality assurance as nested concepts with reciprocities of accountability and improvement roles, and influences which call for alignment of perspectives through negotiations and settlements in order to focus on their practical relevance for implementation in higher education. La tension traditionnelle entre l’implémentation de systèmes d’assurance qualité interne et externe dans l’enseignement supérieur semble s’affaiblir grâce à la reconsidération de la relation entre ces deux concepts. Bien qu’il existe des agences d’assurance qualité qui continuent à considérer les assurances qualité interne et externe comme deux entités distinctes, la plupart des agences considèrent désormais qu’elles sont complémentaires. Cet article soutient que la nouvelle manière de penser les assurances qualité interne et externe dans l’enseignement supérieur est guidée par un souci de pragmatisme mais est encore peu reconnue dans la littérature. Pour mieux apprécier l’influence des pragmatistes sur la compréhension actuelle de la relation entre les assurances qualité interne et externe, cet article offre une conceptualisation pragmatique approfondie de ces deux concepts dans le but d’augmenter l’appréciation des parties prenantes pour l’utilisation d’une telle approche. La conceptualisation proposée provient d’une analyse pragmatique d’un choix d’expériences internationales en matière d’assurance qualité pour l’enseignement supérieur. En conclusion, cet article affirme que le pragmatisme aide à comprendre les assurances qualité interne et externe comme des concepts imbriqués qui ont des rôles réciproques en ce qui concerne la responsabilisation du système et son amélioration. Ces rôles ainsi que l’influence exercée par ces deux types d’assurance qualité requièrent des négociations et accords, pour s’accorder sur les perspectives et pouvoir ensuite se concentrer pleinement sur la pertinence pratique de leur implémentation dans les systèmes d’enseignement supérieur. 

scholarly journals Mapeamento das tendências de investigação em Educação a Distância e Elearning, na década 2004-2013: estudo exploratório no contexto português

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Lina Morgado ◽  
Angelina Costa
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Enseñanza Superior ◽  
Educación A Distancia ◽  
New Public ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Relationship

Resumo: O ensino superior vive complexos momentos de mudança à escala mundial. O desenvolvimento exponencial das tecnologias e, consequentemente, da educação a distância e do elearning, os novos públicos que têm acesso a este nível de ensino, o facto de ser, pela sua natureza, um espaço de inovação na relação e construção do conhecimento, os desenvolvimentos científicos, concretamente na área da educação e das tecnologias, são fatores que têm feito emergir necessidades de análise, de avaliação e de reflexão da produção científica, tornando-as tarefas substanciais da comunidade académica. Com este artigo pretende-se esboçar alguns cenários de futuro na educação a distância e elearning, no ensino superior, olhando para a situação de Portugal no contexto europeu. Foram definidos três momentos de investigação. Num primeiro momento, pretende-se delinear o estado da arte da investigação sobre educação a distância e elearning, no ensino superior, mas ir para além dele, num segundo momento, convocando a discussão e a reflexão dos protagonistas no processo. Num terceiro momento, pretende-se confrontar as perspetivas nacionais com as perspetivas de especialistas europeus neste domínio. Os resultados que agora se apresentam constituem ainda um trabalho em progresso e por isso com resultados preliminares e parciais da primeira fase de investigação.Palavras-chave: educação a distância, elearning, ensino superior, investigação, gestão, inovação Abstract: Higher education experiments complex moments of change to a worldwide extent. With the exponential development of technology and, therefore, the distance education and learning, where a new public has access to this level of education. Other factors like being, by its nature, a space for innovation in the relationship and construction of knowledge, scientific developments, particularly in education and technology, contribute to emerging needs analysis, evaluation and reflection of the scientific production, making it the substantial tasks of the academic community. This study aims to outline scenarios of future in distance education and e-learning, in higher education, looking at Portugal's position in the European context. It has been defined three stages of the investigation. Initially, it is intended to outline the state of the art of research on distance education and e-learning, in higher education, but go beyond, in a second moment, summoning discussion and reflection of the protagonists in the process. Thirdly, the prospects of national and European perspectives of specialists in this field will be faced up. Still, in the research process, we present here the global design of the study and preliminary and partial results of phase one of the research.Keywords: distance education, e-learning, higher education, research projects, management, innovation Resumen: La enseñanza superior vive complejos momentos de cambio a escala mundial. El desarrollo exponencial de las tecnologías y, por consiguiente, de la educación a distancia y del elearning, los nuevos públicos que tienen acceso a este nivel de enseñanza, el hecho de ser, por su naturaleza, un espacio de innovación en la relación y la construcción del conocimiento, los desarrollos científicos, concretamente en el ámbito de la educación y de las tecnologías, son factores que han hecho emerger necesidades de análisis, de evaluación y de reflexión de la producción científica, haciéndolas tareas sustanciales de la comunidad académica. Con este artículo se pretende esbozar algunos escenarios de futuro en la educación a distancia y e-learning en la educación superior, mirando la situación de Portugal en el contexto europeo. Se definieron tres momentos de investigación. En un primer momento, se pretende delinear el estado del arte de la investigación sobre educación a distancia y elearning, en la enseñanza superior, pero ir más allá de él, en un segundo momento, convocando la discusión y la reflexión de los protagonistas en el proceso. En un tercer momento, se pretende confrontar las perspectivas nacionales con las perspectivas de expertos europeos en este ámbito. Los resultados que ahora se presentan constituyen todavía un trabajo en progreso y por ello con resultados preliminares y parciales de la primera fase de investigación.Palabras-clave: educación a distancia, elearning, enseñanza superior, investigación, gestión, innovación

scholarly journals Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Distance Education Programs in Vietnam: Rationale and Future Directions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Huu Cuong ◽  
Le My Phong
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
The World ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Open And Distance Learning

Distance and online education are popular training modes in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and open education. Accreditation is one of the approaches that many countries across the world have implemented to assure the quality of higher education, including distance learning programs. This study investigates the rationale and future directions for quality assurance and accreditation of distance education programs in Vietnam. First, the paper presents concepts of distance education, and quality assurance and accreditation of distance education. Second, the research reviews experiences of implementing quality assurance and accreditation for distance education from several countries in the world. Next, the paper analyses the rationale for conducting accreditation of distance education programs in our country. Finally, the study proposes three groups of recommendations for the national quality assurance organization, accreditation agencies and higher education institutions to be able to implement the quality assurance and accreditation of distance education in Vietnam successfully. Keywords Quality assurance; Accreditation; Distance education; Online learning; Higher education References [1] UNESCO, Distance education in Asia and the Pacific: country papers, Volume III (Singapore - Vietnam), 2009. www.unesco.org/education/pdf/53-23c.pdf.[2] UNESCO, Open and distance learning: trends, policy and strategy considerations, 2002. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001284/128463e.pdf.[3] Owusu-Boampong, A. & Holmberg, C., Distance education in European higher education – the potential, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, International Council for Open and Distance Education and Study Portals B.V, 2015.[4] Australian University, Distance learning Australia, 2018. http://www.australianuniversities.com.au/distance-learning/.[5] Darojat, O., Nilson, M. & Kaufman, D., Quality assurance in Asian open and distance learning: policies and implementation, Journal of Learning for Development, Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015) 1. [6] Jung, I. & Latchem, C., Quality assurance and accreditation in distance education and e-learning: models, policies and research, Routledge, London, 2012.[7] Wang, Qi., Quality assurance - best practices for assessing online programs, International Journal on Elearning, Vol. 5, No. 2 (2006) 265. [8] Friedman, J., 10 facts about accreditation in online degree programs, U.S.News & World Report, February 9, 2017. https://www.usnews.com.[9] U.S. Department of Education., Accrediting agencies recognized for distance education and correspondence education, 2018. https://www2.ed.gov. [10] The Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-learning (ACODE), Benchmarks for technology enhanced learning, ACODE, Canberra, 2014.[11] Bollaert, L., NVAO’s accreditation of online education in a nutshell, 2015. https://www.nvao.net.[12] Henderikx, P. & Ubachs, G., Quality assurance and accreditation of online and distance higher education, 2017. https://www.unic.ac.cy.[13] Stella A. & Gnanam, A., Quality assurance in distance education: The challenges to be addressed, Higher Education, Vol. 47, No. 2 (2004) 143.[14] Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA), Code of practices for open and distance learning, MQA, Kuala Lumpur, 2013.[15] COL, DEMP & UNESCO, Quality assurance toolkit for distance higher education institutions and programmes, COL, Vancouver, 2009.[16] Vietnamnet, Mở đào tạo từ xa sẽ không cần cấp phép, 2017. http://vietnamnet.vn. [17] Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), Quality assurance of online learning: discussion paper, TEQSA, Melbourne, 2017. [18] Nhân dân Điện tử, Phát triển đào tạo từ xa đúng hướng, 2017. http://www.nhandan.com.vn.[19] Nguyễn Hữu Cương, Một số kết quả đạt được của kiểm định chất lượng giáo dục đại học Việt Nam và hướng triển khai trong tương lai, Tạp chí Quản lý giáo dục, Tập 9 Số 8 (2017) 7.[20] Cục QLCL - Bộ GD-ĐT, Danh sách các CSGD đại học; các trường cao đẳng, trung cấp sư phạm, đã hoàn thành báo cáo tự đánh giá, được kiểm định, 2018 (dữ liệu cập nhật đến ngày 31/8/2018).[21] Cục QLCL - Bộ GD-ĐT, Danh sách các chương trình đào tạo được đánh giá/công nhận, 2018 (dữ liệu cập nhật đến ngày 31/8/2018).

Post-pandemic Higher Education: Perspectives from University Leaders and Educational Experts in the United Arab Emirates

2021 ◽  
pp. 234763112110072
Author(s):  
Sanaa Ashour ◽  
Ghaleb A. El-Refae ◽  
Eman A. Zaitoun
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Mode Of Delivery ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Future ◽  
E Learning ◽  
University Leaders

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity to rethink higher education. This study focused on analysing experiences from three higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since the onset of the crisis and explored how university leaders and professors in these institutions imagine post-COVID-19 higher education. The study aimed to find out whether the pandemic has been a factor that has helped to legitimize online teaching and learning as a universal mode of delivery across different fields of studies, or if the Zoom fatigue has shown its limitations. In addition, the research investigated what transformations university experts predict and their vision for the future of higher education. The study found that many lessons learnt during the period of forced adoption of distance education will be used by universities to enhance and expand online learning provisions. This shift will be driven by the investments the universities have made in distance education and the increased familiarity of the students, staff and institutions with e-learning. The study participants foresee that more sophisticated forms of hybrid campuses will be a more appropriate model for the future, if face-to-face (F2F) classrooms do not return.

Enhancing Education in the UAE through Blended Learning

2013 ◽  
pp. 194-207
Author(s):  
Rana Tamim
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
University Professors ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Face To Face Instruction

The advent of technology has changed the landscape in post-secondary academic institutions and technology-enhanced university courses are becoming the norm. While Distance Education was previously restricted to traditional correspondence having limited options for student interaction with the instructor and no interaction with other learners, technology’s progression changed the context drastically. One of the emerging delivery modes is blended learning which combines the advantages of technology enhanced face-to-face instruction and electronic supported learning. The chapter offers a general overview of the influence of technological development on the post-secondary Distance Education sector and presents the advantages of the blended learning approach. Insights are offered from a UAE e-learning University case study while discussing implications for university professors and faculty members pertinent to instructional design and course delivery.

USE OF BLENDED LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION – SOME EXPERIENCES

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
R J Singh
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Face To Face Learning ◽  
Made In

This article reports on the use of blended learning in higher education. Blended learning has become popular in higher education in recent years. It is a move beyond traditional lecturing to incorporate face-to-face learning with e-learning, thereby creating a blend of learning experiences. The problem is that learning in higher education is complex and learning situations differ across contexts. Whilst there is face-to-face contact at some institutions, others offer distance learning or correspondence learning. In each context, the mode of learning may differ. The challenge is to cater for various learning opportunities through a series of learning interactions and to incorporate a blended approach. The aim of this study was to examine various ways of defining blended learning in different contexts. This was done through an examination of experiences of the use of blended learning in different higher education contexts. The study presents a case of blended learning in a postgraduate course. The experiences from all these cases are summarised and conclusions and recommendations are made in the context of blended learning in higher education in South Africa.

scholarly journals Teaching Mathematics at Distance: A Challenge for Universities

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Rosalinda Cassibba ◽  
Daniela Ferrarello ◽  
Maria Flavia Mammana ◽  
Pasquale Musso ◽  
Mario Pennisi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Mathematics ◽  
State University ◽  
Distance Teaching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
University Mathematics ◽  
Learning Platform ◽  
E Learning ◽  
University Level ◽  
Teaching Modality ◽  
The Way

The focus of this research is how Sicilian state university mathematics professors faced the challenge of teaching via distance education during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic entered our lives suddenly, the professors found themselves having to lecture using an e-learning platform that they had never used before, and for which they could not receive training due to the health emergency. In addition to the emotional aspects related to the particular situation of the pandemic, there are two aspects to consider when teaching mathematics at a distance. The first is related to the fact that at university level, lecturers generally teach mathematics in a formal way, using many symbols and formulas that they are used to writing. The second aspect is that the way mathematics is taught is also related to the students to whom the teaching is addressed. In fact, not only online, but also in face-to-face modality, the teaching of mathematics to students on the mathematics degree course involves a different approach to lessons (as well as to the choice of topics to explain) than teaching mathematics in another degree course. In order to investigate how the Sicilian State university mathematics professors taught mathematics at distance, a questionnaire was prepared and administered one month after the beginning of the lockdown in Italy. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were made, which allowed us to observe the way that university professors have adapted to the new teaching modality: they started to appropriate new artifacts (writing tablets, mathematical software, e-learning platform) to replicate their face-to-face teaching modality, mostly maintaining their blackboard teacher status. Their answers also reveal their beliefs related to teaching mathematics at university level, noting what has been an advantageous or disadvantageous for them in distance teaching.

Quality assurance systems: enemies or allies of innovation in higher education institutions?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Ferreira de Mello Silva ◽  
Eduardo Raupp de Vargas
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
University Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Innovation In Higher Education

Purpose This study aims to examine the extant literature to analyze the relationship between quality assurance (QA) and innovation in the higher education context. Design/methodology/approach This study selected 63 articles through a systematic literature review in Scopus and Web of Science databases and performed a descriptive and thematic synthesis-analysis on the sample. Findings The research identifies several perspectives discussed on QA systems covering experiences, criticisms and practice implications. The literature review shows there is no clear consensus on whether innovation in higher education institutions (HEIs) is fostered or hindered by QA processes. However, it seems that the likelihood of innovativeness and positive QA outcomes are directly linked to how these processes are managed in universities. Research limitations/implications This review highlights the university management concerns that emerge with QA issues as it is not yet clear to what extent innovation is actually promoted in scenarios where QA is applied. Hence, this literature review could be considered comprehensive but not exhaustive. Further studies are recommended to improve the understanding of how HEIs can both innovate and ensure quality at the same time. Originality/value The paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge by advancing the opportunities and challenges that HEIs face due to QA system features.

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