Quality Assurance in Distance Education

Background

Diverse forces have combined to drive the growth of technology-based approaches to delivering higher education programs since the mid-1980s. Factors leading to the explosive growth of technology use in higher education have been:

the need to reach an increasingly diverse student population, including workers, rural residents, and place-bound adults;

the demands of an increasingly technologically sophisticated society; and

the financial pressures driving state governments to seek more convenient, cost-effective, and efficient ways to provide postsecondary education access to their citizens.

For years, postsecondary institutions in the West have been national leaders in providing distance learning programs. Because of the western region's geography and demography -- large stretches of land with dispersed populations -- many WICHE states have developed extensive telecommunications networks. Moreover, at a meeting in December 1995, members of the Western Governors' Association unanimously endorsed the notion of a regional virtual university that would offer courses through technology and award its own credentials.

Until now, however, there has been little to guide the review and quality control of electronically offered programs. Planning and policy development have tended to focus on technology itself or on governance and coordination issues, rather than on crucial questions related to how an institution meets the needs of students in technology-based programs or how institutions ensure an ongoing commitment to excellence for students.

A few groups are leading regional and national efforts to reach a consensus on the elements of quality. Following extensive consultation with university faculties and administrators, the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications prepared the Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs (1995).  This statement is now part of the policy discussion in several states and within regional and professional accrediting agencies. A comparable document, the American Council on Education's (ACE) Guiding Principles for Distance Learning in a Learning Society is forthcoming.