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Section: August 1998

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Quality in Distance Learning

What can the higher education community do to monitor and control the rapidly expanding phenomenon of distance learning?

Assuring Quality in Distance Learning: A Preliminary Review, a new report prepared for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) by the Institute for Higher Education Policy, studies the growth of the distance learning industry, outlines different providers and programs, and offers suggestions for monitoring these educational offerings.

A joint NEA and AFT report on distance learning pre-dates and encompasses many of the suggestions offered in the CHEA-commissioned report. A summary of the two studies produces a number of specific recommendations:

Educational quality must be maintained.

• Accrediting agencies must ensure that curriculum is developed and approved by qualified faculty through defined, normal academic processes in each field of study.
• Meaningful interaction between students and faculty in class and through counseling and mentorship must be available.
• Students should receive access to adequate training in using books, laboratories, and other materials.
• Students and faculty must receive proper training in the use of technology resources.

A system of evaluation should be put in place for all distance learning programs.

• Recognized accrediting agencies should be required to assess programs, potentially with help from outside organizations, such as the National Academy of Sciences.
• Further research into distance education technologies should be conducted.
• Participating institutions should be required to put into place objective evaluation mechanisms to assess learning outcomes in the distance program.

Basic safeguards against fraud and abuse should be instituted.

• Students must be told of costs and time commitment for each course.
• A system must be put in place to validate the identity of individuals communicating online.
• Authorities must be vigilant in keeping fly-by-night institutions and "diploma mills" from abusing students.
• There needs to be careful analysis and consistent monitoring of the providers' ownership, management structures, and financial aid procedures.

NEA and AFT will jointly fund a study during 1998-99 on the quality of distance education programs. The goal: to define "quality" in this context and to ensure the quality of distance learning programs is equal to that of on-campus instruction.