teacher, erosion of traditional academic values, loss of a sense of community <strong>and</strong> sharedtradition, technological development at the expense of pedagogical st<strong>and</strong>ards, a tendencytowards cultural homogenisation, <strong>and</strong> an emphasis on quantity over quality. The chapterby Insung Jung provides a valuable contribution to this debate by giving an overview ofthe quality assessment systems used by the mega-universities.INTERNATIONAL SIGNPOSTSIn their efforts to grapple with the above-mentioned challenges, policy-makers canbe encouraged by the fact that there has already been — <strong>and</strong> continues to be — muchcollective brainstorming as well as practical collaboration going on nationally, regionally<strong>and</strong> internationally. Here UNESCO has, of course, played <strong>and</strong> continues to play a centralrole through its meetings, reports, publications <strong>and</strong> collaborative projects. One suchproject, described in the chapter by Zeynep Varoglu, brought together an internationalteam of experts in the fields of informatics <strong>and</strong> <strong>higher</strong> <strong>education</strong> with the aim ofsupporting informed decision making for quality provision of open <strong>and</strong> <strong>distance</strong> <strong>learning</strong>.As Ms Varoglu shows, the experiences gained from such a project can provide valuablelessons for future initiatives in the same general area.An equally important contribution by UNESCO <strong>and</strong> other organisations has beenthrough various seminal conferences that have helped to pave the way forward <strong>and</strong>establish signposts for the future. These include the series of international conferenceson adult <strong>education</strong>, the most recent of which took place in Hamburg in 1997. TheHamburg Declaration <strong>and</strong> the Agenda for the Future, which emerged from it, remain keydocuments. The UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education, held in 1998, wasalso a seminal event <strong>and</strong> resulted in a World Declaration on Higher Education for the 21 stCentury. This called, among other things, for <strong>higher</strong> <strong>education</strong> institutions to be open toadult <strong>and</strong> <strong>lifelong</strong> learners <strong>and</strong> to make full use of ICTs. Going beyond the functionalistmodel, it also said that students should be educated to become critical thinkers <strong>and</strong>responsible citizens (UNESCO, 1998). A further very important UNESCO initiativewas the launching in 2002 of the Global Forum on International Quality Assurance,Accreditation <strong>and</strong> the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education, an internationalplatform for co-operation <strong>and</strong> bridge-building between governments, inter-governmentalorganisations, <strong>higher</strong> <strong>education</strong> bodies <strong>and</strong> other stakeholders. The main framework forUNESCO’s actions in <strong>higher</strong> <strong>education</strong> are its six Conventions on the Recognition ofQualifications, five of which are regional <strong>and</strong> one inter-regional. These conventions arekey st<strong>and</strong>ard-setting instruments in <strong>higher</strong> <strong>education</strong>, ratified by some 120 member statesof UNESCO.Apart from the pioneering work of UNESCO, there have been a number of otherimportant conference declarations <strong>and</strong> international initiatives. The Cologne Charter of1999, adopted by the G8 group of advanced industrial nations, recognised the importanceof <strong>lifelong</strong> <strong>learning</strong> as a “passport to mobility” <strong>and</strong> laid down various strategies for itsfuture development, including. “modern <strong>and</strong> effective ICT networks to support traditionalmethods of teaching <strong>and</strong> <strong>learning</strong> <strong>and</strong> increase the quantity <strong>and</strong> range of <strong>education</strong> <strong>and</strong>training, for example through <strong>distance</strong> <strong>learning</strong>.” (G8). The Bologna Declaration of thesame year, signed by 29 European ministers of <strong>education</strong>, set in motion the “,” which aims to create greater consistency, comparability <strong>and</strong> interchangeabilityamong European <strong>higher</strong> <strong>education</strong> systems as well as promoting co-operation in qualityassurance.Providing essential continuity in international co-operation are various networks,7
associations <strong>and</strong> groups of countries working together on joint <strong>education</strong>al projects <strong>and</strong>sharing resources, knowledge <strong>and</strong> experience. A leading example is UNESCO’s partnerin the creation of this book, the Commonwealth of Learning, launched in 1989 <strong>and</strong> basedin Vancouver, whose mission is to assist “Commonwealth member governments to takefull advantage of open, <strong>distance</strong> <strong>and</strong> technology-mediated <strong>learning</strong> strategies to provideincreased <strong>and</strong> equitable access to <strong>education</strong> <strong>and</strong> training for all their citizens.” (COL).Other such groupings <strong>and</strong> networks exist at regional level. For instance, the Council ofEurope <strong>and</strong> UNESCO have established the European Network of National InformationCentres on academic recognition <strong>and</strong> mobility (the ENIC network). These centres(ENICs) work in complementarity with the National Academic Recognition Centres(NARICs), established by the European Union.An important role here is also played by bilateral organisations, such as the Netherl<strong>and</strong>sOrganization for International Cooperation in Higher Education (NUFFIC), whose aimis to help strengthen <strong>higher</strong> <strong>education</strong> institutions in its partner countries. It also furthersacademic interchange <strong>and</strong> student mobility between those countries <strong>and</strong> the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s,<strong>and</strong> promotes harmonisation of qualification <strong>and</strong> recognition systems. Chapter 10 of thisvolume is a contribution by Astrid Scholten <strong>and</strong> Jindra Divis of NUFFIC, discussingtwo aspects of the Dutch experience in promoting cross-border recognition <strong>and</strong> mobility.The chapter first addresses the issue of outgoing students <strong>and</strong> the measures taken by theNetherl<strong>and</strong>s to improve quality assurance <strong>and</strong> recognition of programmes outside thecountry. Secondly, the authors describe procedures for recognising the competence ofincoming students. The Dutch experience is presented as an example of good practicefrom which others can draw their own lessons.While all of the various international conventions, declarations, processes, networks etc.present a somewhat complex picture, they reduce the need for <strong>education</strong>al planners <strong>and</strong>decision-makers to “reinvent the wheel” in their particular initiatives. There is, however,a further important prerequisite for effective programmes, namely research. In theplanning of <strong>distance</strong> <strong>higher</strong> <strong>education</strong> one needs reliable <strong>and</strong> up-to-date information <strong>and</strong>analysis in a variety of areas, chiefly the following five: (1) learners <strong>and</strong> their needs; (2)teachers <strong>and</strong> their needs; (3) the needs of employers <strong>and</strong> the market; (4) didactic methods;(5) technological developments (such as methods of online delivery of <strong>learning</strong> material).Tony Bates, in Chapter 11, addresses this topic. He describes how, with the expansionof <strong>lifelong</strong> <strong>learning</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>distance</strong> <strong>higher</strong> <strong>education</strong>, the body of research on these areashas grown, yielding very important findings for policy-makers. This body continues toexp<strong>and</strong>, as it must if the field is to flourish <strong>and</strong> grow <strong>and</strong> <strong>higher</strong> <strong>education</strong> is to play itsfull part in creating a true <strong>learning</strong> world.8
- Page 1 and 2: PERSPECTIVES ONDISTANCE EDUCATIONLi
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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
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standards have been proposed for th
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The development of e-learning withi
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RELEVANT INTERNET SITESCCRTVU Onlin
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MoE (2004b) The Notice on Running N
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CHAPTER 7QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEYOF
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(Paris, France, 28-29 June 2004) in
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Examples of elaborated QA policies:
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plans and produces its conventional
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SHTVU (China)• Teaching• Teachi
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offers its programmes to Turkish ci
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mega universities apply a set of st
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RELEVANT INTERNET SITESThe Commonwe
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2. QA initiatives or publications b
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assurance of ODL. This DST will be
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Educational Planning has been respo
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A system of weighting of the key qu
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RELEVANT INTERNET SITESHigher Educa
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CHAPTER 9THE FINNISH VIRTUAL UNIVER
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foreign providers. In Finland, the
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to make the best use of new educati
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The foremost task for the Service U
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part of quality management. The aim
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online courses; an educational tech
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polytechnics, research institutions
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CHAPTER 10PROMOTING CROSS-BORDERREC
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The Bologna Declaration was followe
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indicators currently being used for
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the qualification resulting from th
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Table 9.1: Outline of the portfolio
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• Make sure that incoming student
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CHAPTER 11CHARTING THE EVOLUTIONOF
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Another common characteristic was t
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the current capacity of the educati
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conditions for success. Conditions
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Cultural and ethical issues in inte
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the cost and maintenance of learnin
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Research can be a useful tool for c
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REFERENCESBates, A. (1995). Technol
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Twigg, C. (2001). Quality Assurance
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y, for example, entering into partn
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and even greater steps, and the dec