lifelong learning and distance higher education - Asia Pacific Region

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up their own accreditation or certification agency. However, any quality assurance oraccreditation system that is not backed by national or other competent authorities is verydifficult for outsiders to judge.A similar problem appears with joint degrees, which are offered by higher educationinstitutions in various countries. Such programmes are often not covered by a nationalquality assurance or accreditation system. Even though one would expect such crossborderforms of education to be internationally recognised, they are a complicatedmatter for credential evaluators as their status and quality are often hard to identify. TheBologna process reinforces the rise of international co-operative forms of educationand, especially given the emphasis on international employability, an urgent solution isrequired to enhance recognition in these fields, too.INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE QUALITYASSURANCETo achieve transparency in quality assurance and accreditation at the international level,close collaboration between national and international parties is required. Due to theimpact of quality assurance on international recognition, this process is also of greatimportance for the NARIC/ENIC networks, which are major players in the processof international recognition. This section gives an overview of the most importantinternational developments regarding quality assurance in higher education (see alsoDivis, forthcoming).An important actor promoting quality assurance at the European level is the EuropeanAssociation for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). ENQA and theNARIC/ENIC networks have set a joint agenda to develop an information system onnational quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms for foreign target groups and acommon language on how to deal with cross-border education. In addition, the EuropeanUniversity Association (EUA) and the National Unions of Students in Europe (ESIB)fulfil key roles in enhancing quality in higher education institutions, making nationalsystems as transparent as possible and achieving international recognition of othercountries’ quality judgments and accreditation statements.A number of accreditation organisations, including members of the ENQA, originallyfrom eight countries that introduced national accreditation systems, have establishedthe European Consortium for Accreditation (ECA). The ultimate objective of ECA, inshort, is to accept each other’s national accreditation statements. This might be crucial forinternational recognition, because these countries could use ECA to automatically recogniseeach other’s national degrees instead of on a case-by-case basis. The NARICs/ENICs fromFlanders and the Netherlands are the first two to do this (see the section below).The Joint Quality Initiative is an informal network of representatives primarily fromquality assurance organisations and ministries in Europe. The network aims to increaseinternational collaboration on quality assurance and to enhance the transparency ofEuropean Bachelors and Masters programmes. From the perspective of recognition,the JQI’s most important output is the document Shared descriptors for Bachelors andMasters degrees (the “Dublin descriptors”), in which generic learning objectives orcompetencies are formulated.UNESCO’s European Centre for Higher Education (CEPES) also provides importantbackstopping in the field of accreditation. As part of a project on Strategic Indicatorsfor Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century, CEPES has analysed the quality124
indicators currently being used for the accreditation of educational institutions andprogrammes. In this way it can play a useful role in elaborating performance indicatorsthat are used internationally for quality assurance and accreditation. In October 2002,UNESCO launched the Global Forum on International Quality Assurance, Accreditationand the Recognition of Diplomas, which aims to focus attention for issues relating toquality assurance, accreditation and international recognition on the agendas of the highereducation sector and national and international policy-makers. UNESCO pays specificattention to the issue of cross-border education.In 2004, in co-operation with OECD, UNESCO initiated a project on Guidelines forQuality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education, which aims to develop guidelines fornational stakeholders on how to provide quality cross-border education. Part of this projectis the establishment of an international information tool on recognised higher educationinstitutions. This initiative has great potential in relation to international recognition, inoffering a solution to one of the main problems of recognition: cross-border provision.A final important international initiative is the International Network of QualityAssurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE). This network aims to gather anddisseminate information on existing and forthcoming quality assurance methodologiesin higher education and promote best practices. It fulfils an important network function,as it provides a forum where quality assurance and accreditation organisations can meet.The network also fosters the use of credit transfer systems and encourages educationalinstitutions to provide materials to facilitate the international recognition of diplomas. Inaddition, it intends to provide a warning system for dubious accreditation processes andorganisations.DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NETHERLANDSIn 2002, in the early years of the Bologna process, the Netherlands made the switch froma quality assurance system to an accreditation system. The accreditation system wasintroduced together with the Bachelors and Masters degree structure. It was not built fromscratch; the Netherlands already had an elaborate system of quality assurance, which waseven imitated by other countries. The Dutch quality assurance system was managed bythe two umbrella organisations of universities and universities of professional education.The final statement was not an official recognition or accreditation decision but a qualityjudgment by visiting peers, formulated by the quality assurance agency in a final report.At the heart of the new system introduced in 2002 is the NVAO (Netherlands-FlemishAccreditation Organization), which is responsible for accrediting existing programmesand assessing new programmes. If a programme receives accreditation, the institutionis entitled to award recognised diplomas and degrees for that programme for thecoming six years, and students may obtain a student grant/loan while enrolled in theprogramme. Furthermore, government-funded institutions receive funding in respect oftheir accredited study programmes. Providers of e-learning degree programmes can alsopose a request for accreditation provided that institution is situated in the Netherlands.The NVAO applies the same standards for e-learning as for regular courses as these arebroad enough to relate to the specific requirements of this type of education. Till now,no e-learning courses have been accredited. Non-degree programmes do not qualify foraccreditation at present.The accredited programmes of government-approved or government-funded institutionsqualify for inclusion in the Central Register of Higher Education Programmes (CROHO).In addition, the NVAO administers its own register.125
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PERSPECTIVES ONDISTANCE EDUCATIONLi
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The Commonwealth of Learning (COL)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSIn addition to the
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These are some of the issues that a
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What are the trends and issues in l
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of policy implications relating to
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evince important differences that c
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inequitable regulations governing t
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associations and groups of countrie
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THE CONTRIBUTORChristopher McIntosh
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INTRODUCTIONIn his 1996 report to U
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Lastly, our analysis of the situati
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diploma or similar certificates of
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force of the undertaking. Here agai
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RELEVANT INTERNET SITESUNESCO Task
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Notes1. This phrasing has been used
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goals (Daniel, 1996). Lifelong lear
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eported that group activity had red
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NEW AREAS FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION:WO
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targets systematically for the use
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Rausch, A.S. (2003). A case study o
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correspondence teaching systems tha
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significant differences between syn
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In distance flexible- and blended-e
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STATE-FUNDED DUAL-MODE SYSTEMS ATUN
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Table 4.2: Fundable elements in dis
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sciences in 21 countries of the reg
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How a system is funded depends in p
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Litto, Fredric M. (2004). Digital l
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CHAPTER 5LIFELONG LEARNING IN THE A
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education, which was initiated by C
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So the virtual classroom acted as a
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In June 2002, when the course came
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RELEVANT INTERNET SITESFORCIIR proj
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11. The approximate rate for 1€ w
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The term modern distance education
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the National Networked Consortium f
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important resource for undeveloped
Page 77 and 78: standards have been proposed for th
Page 79 and 80: The development of e-learning withi
Page 81 and 82: RELEVANT INTERNET SITESCCRTVU Onlin
Page 83 and 84: MoE (2004b) The Notice on Running N
Page 85 and 86: CHAPTER 7QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEYOF
Page 87 and 88: (Paris, France, 28-29 June 2004) in
Page 89 and 90: Examples of elaborated QA policies:
Page 91 and 92: plans and produces its conventional
Page 93 and 94: SHTVU (China)• Teaching• Teachi
Page 95 and 96: offers its programmes to Turkish ci
Page 97 and 98: mega universities apply a set of st
Page 99 and 100: RELEVANT INTERNET SITESThe Commonwe
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Page 103 and 104: assurance of ODL. This DST will be
Page 105 and 106: Educational Planning has been respo
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Page 109 and 110: RELEVANT INTERNET SITESHigher Educa
Page 111 and 112: CHAPTER 9THE FINNISH VIRTUAL UNIVER
Page 113 and 114: foreign providers. In Finland, the
Page 115 and 116: to make the best use of new educati
Page 117 and 118: The foremost task for the Service U
Page 119 and 120: part of quality management. The aim
Page 121 and 122: online courses; an educational tech
Page 123 and 124: polytechnics, research institutions
Page 125 and 126: CHAPTER 10PROMOTING CROSS-BORDERREC
Page 127: The Bologna Declaration was followe
Page 131 and 132: the qualification resulting from th
Page 133 and 134: Table 9.1: Outline of the portfolio
Page 135 and 136: • Make sure that incoming student
Page 137 and 138: CHAPTER 11CHARTING THE EVOLUTIONOF
Page 139 and 140: Another common characteristic was t
Page 141 and 142: the current capacity of the educati
Page 143 and 144: conditions for success. Conditions
Page 145 and 146: Cultural and ethical issues in inte
Page 147 and 148: the cost and maintenance of learnin
Page 149 and 150: Research can be a useful tool for c
Page 151 and 152: REFERENCESBates, A. (1995). Technol
Page 153 and 154: Twigg, C. (2001). Quality Assurance
Page 155 and 156: y, for example, entering into partn
Page 157 and 158: and even greater steps, and the dec
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