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National Quality Assurance bodies
The web-sites of the quality assurance bodies listed below provide a rich source of information about accreditation practice in different jurisdictions with particular reference to open, distance and e-learning:
Australia |
Australian Universities Quality Agency www.auqa.edu.au As most providers of DE in Australia are dual mode institutions, there is no special section on DE. The site contains comprehensive documentation about the Australian Quality Audit process and audit reports on individual institutions. An interesting feature of the site is the AUQA Good Practice Database which contains examples relating to flexible learning. www.auqa.edu.au/gp/search/index.php
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India |
The Distance Education Council www.dec.ac.in. Reflecting the fact that distance higher education in India is mostly delivered by dedicated single-mode providers, DEC, based at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in Delhi, India's flagship open university, is a dedicated QA agency for providers of distance education in India, working in parallel with the National Assessment and Accreditation Council http://www.naac-india.com
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New Zealand |
New Zealand Universities Academic Audit Unit www.aau.ac.nz also contributes examples of good Practice to the AUQA Good Practice Database.
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UK |
Quality Assurance Agency www.qaa.ac.uk . The Code of Practice for the assurance of quality and standards in higher education Section 2: Collaborative provision and flexible and distributed learning (including e-learning) - September 2004 provides specific guidance on the expectations of the agency in relation to arrangements for distance education, which is now offered by many universities in addition to their face to face provision.
Open & Distance Learning Quality Council (ODL QC)
www.odlqc.org.uk. ODL QC was established at the request of the British Government in 1969 as the Council for the Accreditation of Correspondence Colleges. Renamed in 1995, it is now an independent body and a registered charity. It fulfils its role as "the UK guardian of quality in open and distance learning" by offering an accreditation service to providers of home study, distance learning, online or e-learning and other open learning or flexible learning courses that meet its standards. Most of the accredited providers are in the private sector and are engaged in further education. The latest ODL QC standards (2006 version) (www.odlqc.org.uk/standard.htm), a list of accredited providers (www.odlqc.org.uk/colls.htm) and a very useful Buyers' Guide (www.odlqc.org.uk/buyers.htm) are published on the website.
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USA |
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation www.chea.org A national advocate and institutional voice for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation, CHEA is an association of 3,000 degree-granting colleges and universities and recognizes 60 institutional and programmatic accrediting organizations. Four recent monographs by CHEA President, Judith Eaton, summarise the organization's position on the assurance of quality in distance education:
Core Academic Values, Quality and Regional Accreditation: The Challenge of Distance Learning (2000) www.chea.org/Research/core-values.cfm
Distance Learning: Academic and Political challenges for Higher Education Accreditation (2001)
www.chea.org/pdf/mono_1_dist_learning_2001.pdf
Accreditation and Assuring Quality in Distance Learning (2002)
www.chea.org/pdf/mono_1_accred_distance_02.pdf?pubID=246
Specialized Accreditation and Assuring Quality in Distance Learning (2002)
www.chea.org/pdf/mono_2_spec-accred_02.pdf?pubID=246
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Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications www.wcet.info was founded by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education www.wiche.edu in 1989 to act as an advocate for effective policies and practices supporting distance education.
In 2001, on behalf of the eight regional accrediting commissions in the US , WCET published Best Practices for electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs
An update on Regional Accreditation Issues for E-learning www.wcet.info/about/UpdateAccreditation.asp was provided by Sally Johnstone, Executive Director of WCET in December 2004.
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Distance Education and Training Council www.detc.org based in the US , was established in 1926. Its purpose was, and still is today, "to foster and preserve high quality, educationally sound and widely accepted distance education and independent learning institutions." It provides an accreditation service. Its accreditation services are available world-wide.
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South Africa |
South African Institute for Distance Education www.saide.org.za was set up in 1992 to promote the use of distance education in reshaping educational provision in South Africa . In 2004 it was commissioned to write a major study for the Council of Higher Education www.che/ac.za Enhancing the contribution of Distance Higher Education in South Africa . www.che.ac.za/documents/d000070/index.php Chapter 6 of the Report: "Strategies for Assuring the quality of DE Provision" provides a comprehensive review of the key elements of quality provision and addresses the question of how best accrediting agencies may review distance provision in dual-mode institutions. |
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