Chapter Two

International Perspectives On Quality Assurance: Lessons For South Africa

The previous chapter looked at the latest educational developments in South Africa which have a bearing on the provision of distance education. This chapter highlights current international trends in distance education which are relevant to the South Africa context. It then looks at various methods of quality assurance which have been used internationally, discusses their advantages and limitations, and points to a trend from external control to internal quality assurance. Thirdly, it analyses three sets of quality guidelines in terms of their usefulness for South Africa. Finally, by reflecting on the similarities and differences between distance education provision in South Africa and internationally, it draws out some of the lessons from international experience which are most relevant to this country.  

 Current international trends in the provision of distance education 

As a set of methods for providing education and training, distance education is complex for various reasons, including the following:

1.   There is a range of institutions and technologies used to deliver education at a distance.

2.   Distance education methods are used across all sectors of education and training - in general (school) education, further education and training, adult basic education and training, and higher education and training.

3.   Distance education is delivered by state and state-aided bodies and by private, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.

4.   Some countries have a long history of distance education provision, while in others it is a relatively recent development.

5.   Contemporary trends in education, particularly the massification of higher education, are creating pressures for increased educational provision through distance methods.

6.   Distance education is increasingly being seen as vital to the transformation of education, rather than as a second-best mode of delivery.

These trends in distance education provision around the world are explored in more detail below. 

Forms of distance education 

Historically distance education has passed through a number of different phases or ‘generations’.[1] All these forms exist in some variation throughout the world today. 

  •       Correspondence/home/independent study

      This form refers to study which is primarily text-based with little or no learner support. 

  •       Open universities

These are usually large institutions, national in scope. In the best examples of

successful institutions, teams of specialists perform the varied tasks of teacher, 

tutor, researcher, administrator, media specialist, instructional designer, in order to 

provide the learner with the best possible (usually multimedia) support for his or her 

learning experience even though s/he is at a distance and may have study

constraints of physical health, family, or work, and needs considerable flexibility in 

the learning programme. The philosophy behind such universities is the provision of 

quality education in an open, flexible way, combining access with good chances of 

success. 

  •       Broadcast/teleconferencing

Moore describes this as ‘delivery of course materials by broadcast television o

video-tape, with interaction by telephone, or both delivery and interaction by 

telephone, satellite, cable, or ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network) lines’.[2]  

Because of the high costs of using these media, consortia of institutions often 

come together for development of materials, but vary the way they link the 

educational media into delivery of particular

courses at their own institutions.

  •        Networks/Multimedia

This form involves delivery of course materials through combinations of computers 

an telecommunications, through the use of e-mail, the Internet, and CD-ROM 

packages. As Moore notes, ‘it might seem that our history has come full circle, 

since in many ways teaching and learning by this medium is surely an 

electronic-age correspondence course’.[3] In this form of provision, however, the 

provider of the education may not be an organization in any formal sense of the 

word at all Not only can students learn wherever they are located, from instructional 

resources wherever they are located, but no student of a subject is compelled to 

take instruction from exactly the same teacher as any other student. Teachers can 

be accessed from any state or country and at any time and in any combination. 

Similarly, advice and guidance can be accessed universally.[4] 

Distance education in different educational sectors 

Distance education methods are used across the full range of education and training sectors. While the role of distance education in higher education and in vocational training is clear and growing in status, however, its role in schooling and adult basic education is often questioned.   

In Australia, correspondence courses for children from kindergarten through to the final year of formal schooling were arranged for children in the outback as long ago as the First World War. This gave rise to the use of radio in broadcasting in 1929 and a school of the air in 1951. In Zambia, a correspondence unit was established in 1964 to increase access to secondary school education (until then only twelve percent of primary school children were getting a place in secondary school). Similarly, the Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL) has recently been established, its main purpose being provision of education to adults who have missed out on the later part of formal schooling, thereby giving them a chance to finish school. There are plans to increase the scope of the activities of NAMCOL to include vocational training, in order to equip adults with the skills they need to find and/or create work. A huge amount of effort in developing countries is devoted to the upgrading of teachers’ skills by means of distance education. It is notable that:

the pioneer of this approach in Africa was the University of East Africa in Nairobi in Kenya, today known as the School of Distance Studies at the University of Nairobi. Set up in 1969 with assistance from the University of Wisconsin, what was then called the Correspondence Courses Unit, retrained and graduated some 10 000 unqualified teachers between 1969 and 1972.[5] 

Some open universities do not restrict themselves only to higher education studies. The Allama Iqbal Open University in Pakistan, for example, though it focuses mainly on teacher education, spends a great deal of time and money on non-formal programmes and adult basic education, ‘such as its 18-month village projects that emphasize literacy and the skills needed for rural employment and rural development’[6]. 

State and private provision 

In some countries, distance education is predominantly the responsibility of the state, as in France where 350 000 of 550 000 students are enrolled at a state-owned organization called the Centre National D'enseignement a Distance (CNED). In others, the degree of provision by non-government and/or profit organizations is much higher. In Norway, for example, distance education was mainly offered by private institutions from 1914 to 1975, when the state agreed to give financial aid to correspondence students in accredited schools. Similarly, in South Africa, over 220 000 students are enrolled with the five main private providers alone. 

The state has quality control responsibilities with respect to both private and state provision of distance education but the way in which regulation and quality assurance take place in state and private organizations is different. In the case of private institutions, the state needs to protect consumers against fraudulent, low-quality programmes designed to make the most money for the least effort. This is often done through legislation of minimum standards. In the case of state institutions, the issue is how to avoid wasting the state’s money. In Australia, for example, state funding of universities is linked to quality assessment, while, in the United Kingdom, funding of higher education programmes is linked to the results of quality assessment. 

Distance Education Providing Access to Higher Education 

A major factor affecting higher education world wide is a trend towards massification of higher education. Because of increases in population, increased demand for skilled work, and an increase in the political power of ordinary people, there is a rising demand that the state provide access to higher education for increasing numbers of young people. Technical, professional, and academic institutions of higher education have to consider distance education as a means of providing flexible and cost-saving access. 

Distance education - A Tradition or a Recent Development? 

In some countries, there is a long tradition of distance education provision, and in others, it is relatively new. In Norway, as will be seen below, there has been a long period of time in a relatively stable country for the evolution from external quality control to internal quality assurance. Similarly, in Australia, distance education has always been important because of the vast distances and scattered nature of the population. As far back as 1910, the University of Queensland was established and required to offer correspondence education. However, in other countries, distance education provision on any large scale is a relatively recent phenomenon. In Portugal, for example, the Universidade Aberta was started only in 1988. 

Distance education’s Contribution to the Transformation of Education 

Finally, distance education in all sectors of education is being seen less and less as a separate (lesser) form of educational provision, and more as a catalyst for transforming the nature of education. In the first generation of correspondence study, distance education was seen as a mode of education available to students for whom no other possibilities were open. It did not, and never could, offer education of as high a quality as face-to-face education. Increasingly, however, educational debate has cast doubt on the value of traditional, face-to-face education, a debate fuelled in part by evolution of effective uses of distance education methods in some countries. Simultaneously, increased access to education and training is coming to be seen not only as a political demand, but also as an economic prerequisite. In a rapidly changing world, the concept of a front-end education which equips people for a lifetime career is rapidly disappearing. It is being replaced by an understanding that continual training and retraining is vital throughout people’s lives. As Moore notes,

Over the next decade education will undergo a fundamental transformation as teaching and learning at a distance becomes at least as important as the traditional classroom approach that has lasted for more than a century.[1]

Increasingly, therefore, distance education is seen as being linked to lifelong learning, and therefore necessary for all rather than only for the disadvantaged. More traditional institutions are adopting distance teaching methods for at least some of their programmes, and some might transform entirely into distance education institutions. In addition, more consortia of distance teaching institutions are likely to emerge as educational planners and decision-makers grapple with the need to offer higher quality education to more people, throughout their entire lives, using less money.   

 Methods of ensuring credibility and quality control

In this section, various options for the quality assurance of distance education are discussed. Research conducted by the Research Group into quality assurance strategies has demonstrated a clear trend from external control to internal quality assurance, as the descriptions below will demonstrate. 

The Law of the Market 

A first phase of quality assurance has been to rely on the law of the market to improve the quality of distance education provision. This idealistic approach is based on the logic that students will gravitate towards those programmes which are of the highest quality. However, in the first phase of distance education provision - the correspondence school phase - it quickly became apparent that it was not sufficient to trust to the market to ensure credibility and quality control. Firstly, the market only affects private for-profit provision, and secondly, because customers in distance education are dispersed, they cannot react quickly enough to changes in quality and can easily become victims of malpractice. In countries where the state cannot provide enough education, the situation is particularly bad. In Nigeria, for example, it is recorded that

adventurous entrepreneurs see a juicy field of operation because of the imbalance of demand and supply with a ready market of ever-increasing applicants who are desperate for educational qualification through correspondence methods.[2]  

Associations and Codes of Ethics 

Owing to the failure in many countries of the law of the market, correspondence school associations developed Codes of Ethics which outlined good practice, in an effort to ensure their credibility and to protect their customers. New members had to be accepted by the old, and, if members at any time did not follow the code of ethics, they could face the possibility of exclusion. Codes of Ethics tend to be fairly sketchy (as was the case in the Norwegian Association of Distance Education and is the case with that of the Association of Distance Education Colleges of South Africa). While they remain an important element in quality assurance, the success of associations and their codes of ethics depends very much on the energy and vision of the participants. They also contain the associated risk of being used by participants as a gate-keeping mechanism to prevent competitors from successfully entering the field. Thus, they might be regarded as a necessary, but not sufficient, element in assuring quality.  

Accreditation 

Even though some Associations have been strict about adherence to a Code of Ethics, the tendency has been for member institutions to wear their membership to Associations like a badge and not to use it for real quality control. A firmer way to ensure quality is, therefore, to offer accreditation. A good example of this is the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council (formerly called the National Home Study Council) in the United States of America, established in 1955. In the United Kingdom, the Council for the Accreditation of Correspondence Colleges was established in 1969 and became the Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODLQC) in 1995. The accreditation process through the ODLQC requires submission of a report, but also involves a visit from quality assessors who look at issues such as: tutor arrangements; the calibre of tutorial staff; recruitment and publicity policies; quality of study materials; conditions of enrolment; efficiency of administrative procedures; and qualifications awarded. 

Although they are not concerned only with programmes using distance education methods, professional or vocational accreditation bodies can also have an impact on the quality of provision of institutions using distance education methods. The purposes of such bodies around the world include ensuring that:

  •       education and training is appropriate for entry to a profession or vocation

  •       those entering the profession or vocation have the appropriate knowledge, competence and values

  •       institutions providing the education and training are suitable.

Legislation 

Some attempts at firm control, particularly of private distance education institutions, have resulted in regulation by law. Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, West Germany, France, and the Netherlands have laws relating to private distance education only, the main aim of which seems to be the protection of consumer rights. According to Ljosa and Rekkedal,[3] however, the European experience illustrates the limitations of legislation. It definitely results in the removal of certain substandard activities, but, through its necessary insistence only on minimum standards, it can also lead to the legislation of mediocrity. Another disadvantage is that changes in legislation are slow. Thus, they often cannot keep up with rapid changes in pedagogical attitudes and approaches to quality appraisal. 

Legislation does, however, have its place, particularly in countries which do not have a sound educational infrastructure or a well educated public. To ensure its successful application, however, it needs to include the creation of systems of implementation. In Nigeria, for example, the Educational Correspondence Colleges Decree (no 11 of 1977) was passed, and a Correspondence Education Unit was set up simultaneously as part of the Vocational section of the Education Ministry. The purpose of the unit was to carry out accreditation functions. In 1978, the first year of inspection, 85 correspondence colleges applied for registration and accreditation. Of these, fifteen were overseas colleges, 26 were not fully operational, and 28 were non-existent! Only sixteen qualified for final inspection and assessment.[4] 

Quality Standards and Total Quality Management 

The emphasis in codes of ethics, accreditation, and legislation tends to be on the protection of the rights of customers (and employers). Customer satisfaction is also the basis of various national and international standards used in industry. However, an additional contribution made by these standards is the understanding they have created that quality service involves the whole organization - total quality management is necessary. The best known quality standards are the British Standard BS5750 and the International Standard Series ISO 9000-9004. They have been used by various bodies in distance education as the basis for developing quality guidelines. The following discussion of ISO 9004 gives a sense of what is involved.

ISO 9004 is not a checklist for compliance with a set of requirements, but a guideline that describes a basic set of elements by which quality management systems can be developed and implemented. Such elements are management responsibility, quality system principles, economics, marketing, production etc. The basis of the ISO-series is the customer. His/her needs and expectations can be assured only when the total organisation is properly focused on him.[5] 

These quality standards are designed for industry. They need to be adapted for education because educational criteria for quality differ from those in industry. In industry, the concern is that products and services should be up to standard, but in education quality means ‘better than average’. Similarly, in the service sector, quality might be regarded as ‘fitness for purpose’ and defined in terms of the users’ purpose and experience of service, but in education there is a need for academic standards as well. However, industrial standards can be used as a starting point for a more comprehensive approach to quality in distance education.   

In 1988, the Manpower Services Commission published a handbook called Ensuring Quality in Open Learning: A Handbook for Action. This was a combined effort of a wide range of stakeholders in education and training, and was based on BS 5750. Similarly, in 1994, the European Association of Correspondence Schools produced a set of guidelines based on ISO 9000. The most recent European initiative of this kind is the SATURN Quality Guide. It is also based on ISO 9000, for the following reasons:

Many companies are now adopting these international standards for their own quality assurance, as a requirement of their suppliers and as a way of introducing quality management techniques...We felt that guides for quality assurance are much more likely to be adopted if they build on the concepts used in recognised and established international quality initiatives.[6] 

Besides being instrumental in the shift towards an emphasis on the importance of quality in the whole organization through total quality management, industrial quality standards have made another contribution. This is because they have stressed the importance of developing self-improving systems, rather than relying on external quality control, an important development in the history of building and assuring the quality of educational provision using dist

Quality Assessment and Quality Audit 

Globally, state education systems are having to expand to meet the demand for increased access to education, particularly in higher education. This expansion leads to soaring costs, with the result that the state and tax payers are increasingly insisting that systems for ensuring accountability are put in place, particularly in higher education. Quality assessment and quality audit are currently the two most widely used methods. 

Quality assessment or measurement usually involves investigating whether or not institutions or programmes are run to a minimum acceptable or threshold standard, whereas quality audit is an external check that quality assurance and quality control processes are appropriate and working properly.[7] In most quality assurance systems, both quality assessment and quality audit rest on self-evaluation. Sometimes funding of institutions is linked to quality assessment, as is the case with universities in Australia, and with programmes of learning in higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. There is, however, always a tension between the demand of institutions for autonomy and the demands of the public for accountability, as there is between the formal accreditation offered by professional and vocational bodies and self-assessment within institutions. 

From External Quality Control to Internal Quality Assurance 

Most countries with a long tradition of distance education have employed, and continue to employ, a variety of strategies to ensure credibility and quality control. The dominant trend in this regard currently is a move away from external quality control to internal quality assurance. This depends on the ability of institutions and staff within those institutions to go through a process of self-evaluation leading to the establishment of internal quality assurance systems which will ensure internal monitoring and continuous self-improvement. In such processes, the role of the external agency or system is not to evaluate the performance of the institution as such, but rather to create pressure to put self-improving systems in place and to support the development of self-evaluation skills. 

The following two brief case studies illustrate this trend. The first looks at the case of Norway, focusing on the approach to the assurance of the quality of distance education and the second is an outline of the quality assurance framework in the United Kingdom.   

 Two case studies 

The Case of Norway

In 1993, the Norwegian Association of Distance Education (NADE) produced a set of guidelines, Quality Standards for Distance Education, and a book explaining the background to the development of these standards.[1] It is interesting to look back beyond this to get an insight into the various ways one particular nation approached quality control and assurance over several years. 

The first approach chosen in Norway was to develop legislation. Act 12 of November 1948 concerning Correspondence Schools was the first law in the world of its type. It established a Correspondence School Council which helped the Ministry of Education with supervision of correspondence schools by reviewing courses and inspecting institutions. These activities led to accreditation of individual courses, each of which was accredited for only three to five years. This meant that schools had to ‘establish systematic routines for revision, reorganization and updating of the course material and the development of new courses’.[2] In addition, staff development in various areas was organized by the Council in association with NADE. The system also encouraged schools to undertake their own research and evaluation. In addition to this, NADE drew up rules (a code of ethics) for good correspondence school practice. 

In time, however, the country outgrew this system. The present situation is that the Act for Correspondence Schools has been repealed and approved distance education institutions have been placed under the Norwegian Adult Education Act. The accrediting and supervisory roles of the Correspondence Schools Council have fallen away, and institutions are now responsible for their own quality improvement work. Even though the previous system worked well, there were problems. These were as follows:

  •       external assessors/supervisors were often accused of lack of objectivity;

  •       institutions do not take as much personal responsibility for self-improvement if there are external evaluations;

  •       often external appraisal leads to a concern for external opinion rather than for the good of the students; and

  •       advances in technology meant that while some institutions were dependent on and controlled by the accreditation scheme, others ‘were able to conduct distance education completely outside the control of the authorities by means of technology that was not regulated by law and authorization schemes’.[3]

The best solution for the Norwegian context, therefore, seemed to be to regard distance education as a form of adult education, and to require internal quality assurance in collaboration with the authorities. In order to assist institutions with their own quality assurance, NADE established a Standing Committee on Quality to formulate and regularly review guidelines for quality standards. The principles upon which these guidelines are currently based are:

  •       they must relate to the total educational programme, not just the materials;

  •       they must be loose enough to give individual institutions freedom to define their own quality requirements; and

  •       they must contain minimum standards.

Because they are more specific than the original rules set up by NADE for good correspondence school practice, they can be used by government to judge the effectiveness of proposed or existing programmes and institutions. 

The United Kingdom Quality Assurance Framework for Higher Education

In the United Kingdom, distance education is part of the national framework for quality assurance of higher education. Only private distance education institutions have their own quality assurance body - the Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODLQC). The ODLQC is a voluntary body which accredits organizations which register with it. Public distance education, in the same way as traditional education, is subject to the following types of quality assurance:

1.  Quality assessment conducted by the Higher Education Funding Council - this focuses on subject assessment, is a combination of self-assessment and external review, and is linked to funding of programmes.

2.  Quality audits conducted by the Higher Educational Quality Council - these focus on review of institutional systems, and are not linked to funding.

3.  Accreditation conducted by professional bodies - this focuses on subjects/programmes to ensure appropriate education and training for entry to the profession.

4.  Internal processes conducted by the higher education institutions themselves - these focus on systems as well as subjects/programmes, and are conducted mainly for purposes of self-improvement.[4] 

The quality assurance system is very thorough and varied, and reflects the same shift towards self-evaluation and internal control as experienced in Norway. The problem with the current system is that it is not yet integrated. Consequently, there is duplication, overlap, and fluctuating rules and criteria. A new system is to be introduced next year in which quality audit and quality assessment will be managed by a single agency which will also attempt to coordinate the demands of professional bodies. Another characteristic of the new development will be a stronger emphasis on basing both institutional review and subject review on internal procedures for review. 

This emphasis on the internal processes has evolved from a system that, for new higher education institutions, laid great emphasis on external validation. The Council for National Academic Awards, which used to be the degree/certificate awarding body for polytechnics, was only disbanded in 1991. It was largely through the quality control work of the CNAA that the very uneven provision at polytechnics was improved until they could validly be regarded as offering courses of an equivalent, if not better, standard than established universities. Consequently, these institutions now fall under the same quality assurance system as the universities, often showing better audit results because of their long acquaintance with quality control. A system which began with external control, therefore, has progressed logically to one with a far greater emphasis on internal quality assurance mechanisms.   

 International quality guidelines for distance education

We have considered some recent trends in distance education world wide and analysed international developments in quality assurance for distance education. Before describing the approach to and strategies for building and assuring quality which we believe will be most appropriate for South Africa, however, it is worth examining in more detail three sets of quality guidelines from other countries. 

The following guidelines have been chosen for more detailed analysis:

1.   Guidelines developed by the Research and Development Committee of the European Association of Correspondence Schools (AECS).These guidelines were selected because they arise from a private correspondence college association with strong links to industry and international standards. They are relevant to the South African context because much of the distance education provision here is private and for-profit. 

2.   Quality Standards developed by a Standing Committee on Quality of the Norwegian Association of Distance Education (NADE). These standards/guidelines were selected because they were the culmination of a process of thinking about how to assure the quality of distance education on a national scale. Similarly, in South Africa, it is necessary to think about appropriate national standards and how to develop and use them effectively. 

3.    Guidelines on Quality Assurance developed by the Higher Education Quality Council (HEQC) in the United Kingdom. These guidelines were selected because they are part of a national system of quality assurance of all education, not just distance education. They provide an opportunity for thinking about what differences and similarities there need to be between quality standards for distance education and for other modes of educational provision. In South Africa, distance education must be recognized as a specialized form of educational provision, but this should not result in its inflexible separation from other modes of educational delivery. 

AECS Quality Guidelines[5] 

These guidelines were developed by the Research and Development Committee of the European Association of Correspondence Schools (AECS). AECS has a membership of 61 private distance education organizations and seven associate members offering courses in general education, technical, business and management, languages, and vocational training. 

Objectives of the Guidelines

The objectives of the AECS quality guidelines are as follows:

  •       to offer a sound basis for quality assessment and improvement for private distance education institutions;

  •       to give a satisfactory guarantee for distance education, especially for small and medium sized enterprises in Europe; and

  •       to improve the status and image of private correspondence schools in Europe. 

Principles

The AECS guidelines are based on the principles that they should:

  •        have a sound theoretical foundation;

  •        cover the main components of distance education to be assessed            internally;

  •        be well communicated (easy to follow);

  •        set clearly defined standards where possible; and

  •        be of real practical value.

Approach to Quality Assurance

The theoretical foundation underpinning these guidelines is Total Quality Management (TQM), a business strategy aimed at improving business effectiveness and customer satisfaction. The framework which informs the approach to TQM in the guidelines is the international standard ISO 9000. The business framework is adapted to suit specific distance education needs. 

The approach requires the management in a particular institution to use the guidelines for self-appraisal, so that it can plan for continuous self-improvement. It indicates to institutions where they are in terms of quality, and gives an indication of steps needed to effect improvement. However, it does not tell institutions how to conduct self-improvement exercises. The next step after self-appraisal is for institutions to formulate their own quality improvement plans. AECS also suggests that self-improvement can be achieved through staff development, and it has developed a course in distance education which can fulfil this purpose. The guidelines will be incorporated into the constitution of AECS once they have been approved by the membership.

Structure of Guidelines

The diagram below indicates the nine elements of the Total Quality Management System. The guidelines are organized according to these elements (adapted for distance education purposes). The element which is developed in the greatest detail is ‘Processes’. It is divided into core processes relevant to distance education. These are:

  •       pre-enrolment practices;

  •       enrolment and contract practices;

  •       product management practices;

  •       tutorial practices;

  •       counselling practices;

  •       examinations;

  •       face-to-face teaching;

  •       teleteaching; and

  •       other practices.

 

The Nine Elements of a Total Quality Management System

 

Leadership

Resources

Policy and Strategy

People Management

Processes

Impact on society

Customer satisfaction

People satisfaction

Business results

 

For each element, there is a number of criteria, which are listed and explained. The following example illustrates this. Under the element Core Processes, there is a number of activities, one of which is counselling practices. This activity is described as follows:

‘Counselling concerns all the advice and guidance given to students by an institute’s personnel in addition to that given by tutors when correcting assignments. The criteria are:

  •       planning;

  •       access and student support; and

  •       training and evaluation.

For each criterion, there is a series of graded indicators so that organizations can appraise themselves. For example, under the element ‘Leadership’, there are three criteria:

  •      vision on quality;

  •      personal involvement and support; and

  •      external activities.

For each criterion, indicators are arranged under four stages: 

 

Stage 1

Short-term

orientation

Stage 2

Formulated product requirements

Stage 3

Effective use of internal expertise

Stage 4

Continuous improvement & interaction with the environment

  Vision    on quality

•  No defined vision

• Clearly defined vision regarding products/ services

• Insufficiently implemented vision

• Unclear internal communication

• Vision accepted and supported

• Vision is implemented

• Regular internal discussions

• Evaluation based on data

• Shared vision by the entire organization

• Vision adjusted from external information

• Involvement of stakeholders

• Customer involvement

Notes are also provided to accompany the self-appraisal grid. In three instances minimum standards are indicated in the notes. These three are:

  •          minimum content of prospectus;

  •          minimum content of information in the contract; and

  •          minimum standards for provision of advice.

For most of the core processes, the notes contain a list of recommendations for core practices. The following is an example: Recommendation for tutor’s behaviour and attributes:

a.    Familiarity with the subject to be taught

b.    Knowledge of didactics i.e. in respect of guidance work and evaluation

c.    Acquaintance with students as a target group

d.    Familiarity with distance tutor’s work (institute, routines, etc.)

e.    Familiarity with students

f.     Personal interest and motivation

g.    Sense of humour

h.    Patience and perseverance

i.     Reliability and objectivity (especially in marking)

j.     Carefulness and readable handwriting

k.    Skilfulness in written communication

l.     Ability to perceive problems, deficiencies and differences

m.   Ability to work quickly

Usefulness for the South African Context

The AECS guidelines are useful in the South African context for two reasons. First, the focus on continuous self-improvement, rather than quality control, is useful. The Guidelines also provide a clear mechanism for self-appraisal, which is a necessary basis for self-improvement. However, this mechanism (indicators grouped under four stages) would need to be adapted for the South African context if it were used in a formal way. It could not be adapted simply by guesswork but would need to be developed through a fairly lengthy testing process.  Self-appraisal is the necessary basis for self-improvement, but it is not sufficient in itself to achieve improvement. For this reason, AECS suggests providing staff development as well. 

Second, the guidelines are useful because they handle distance education issues very comprehensively. They deal with most of the necessary areas to consider in distance education, including the use of contemporary technology (although the bias is towards print technology supported by tutorials).  The only drawback is that assessment is disappointingly referred to as ‘examinations’, which indicates a clear bias towards a certain type of assessment. 

In summary, the ISO9000 framework, with its emphasis on results, is helpful in focusing the guidelines away from mere advice and onto elements against which concrete success can be measured. 

NADE’s Quality Standards for Distance Education[1] 

The Norwegian Association of Distance Education (NADE) established a Standing Committee on Quality responsible for quality matters (quality criteria, quality standards, and quality assurance and improvement in distance education) in the Association. It works in consultation with the Ministry of Education, Research and Church Affairs and the Executive Board of NADE. It functions as the Association’s liaison body and adviser to the ministry in matters concerning quality and quality assurance in independent distance education institutions. 

Work of NADE’s Standing Committee on Quality

The work of the Standing Committee is to:

  •       assist the individual member institutions in taking care of their responsibility to provide quality distance education;

  •       furnish the ministry with a general basis for evaluating whether the quality assurance at the independent distance education institutions is satisfactory;

  •       increase awareness of quality that is based on requirements for professional-pedagogical, ethical and organisational aspects of these institutions’ activities.

Principles Underpinning Quality Standards

The NADE quality standards are based on the principles that they should:

  •       encourage internal self-improvement rather than merely response to external control;

  •       be relatively general - exemplifying good practice rather than laying down detailed rules;

  •       cover the most important constituents of a distance education institution’s products and services;

  •       provide a few minimum standards;

  •       highlight the importance of general quality assurance throughout the institution, not only evaluation of products; and

  •       be revised regularly.

The theoretical basis for NADE’s Standards is not the ISO series or another quality standard from industry. In this instance, these were regarded as too restrictive, particularly in terms of documentation. The Standing Committee felt that their guidelines should provide a framework for institutional self-evaluation, and that individual institutions should develop their own specific points and methods of reporting and documentation from the general framework. Thus, the theoretical evaluation framework is adapted for distance education from that developed at Lund University for the evaluation of professional fields or institutions. 

Approach to quality assurance

The role of the Standing Committee is broader than merely writing and revising standards. It also gives advice on the documentation and reporting of quality assurance measures, and is responsible for encouraging member associations to improve quality and encouraging the support of the ministry for such quality improvements. In addition, it functions as a consultant in respect of individual cases. Finally, it operates in a broader context where independent distance education institutions are usually accredited by the state, receive funding linked to the accreditation, and have to submit reports and be subjected to inspections. The encouragement of self-improvement is an enhancement of a system that is fairly closely regulated. 

Structure of Guidelines

The Guidelines are organized according to the following matrix: 

 

Conditions/

Constraints

Implementation

Results

Follow-up

Information

Counselling

 

 

 

 

Course

development

 

 

 

 

Course

delivery

 

 

 

 

Organization

 

 

 

 

 

In each area, certain factors are specified which the institution sought to use for the evaluation of its own quality. These factors are not meant to be finite, and they are also of varying importance for different kinds of institutions. Nevertheless, they provide a framework for discussion. This works as follows:

 

 

Conditions/

Constraints

Implementation

Results

Follow-up

Information

Counselling

1

External constraints

Organization

Partners

2

Channels

Content

3

Student Body

Other results

4

Evaluation

Customer reactions

Course

development

5

External constraints

Organization

Target group

Staff

Partners

6

Supervision,

cooperation

Follow up and

guidance of authors

Choice of media

Formative evaluation

7

Course description

Material meeting

 requirements

Teaching aids

8

Evaluation

Customer reactions

Updating and/or

 revision

Course

delivery

9

External constraints

Organization

Students

Materials

Teachers

Partners

10

Two-way-contact

Teaching and

 guidance

11

Students’

 achievement of

 goals

Course completion

Learning results

 

12

Evaluation

Customer reactions

Organization

13

External constraints

Organization

Partners

14

Management

Communication

Future orientation

15

Achievement of

goals

Financial results’

Repute

16

Evaluation

Reporting

For some of these factors, standards are specified. Some are expressed as minimum standards (the institution ‘should’ or ‘must’ do them), while others are expressed as recommendations (the institution ‘ought to’ do them). 

In a sense, the areas, factors, and standards are like a series of job descriptions. If one were the manager in charge of course development, for example, the section with its factors and standards would provide the relevant job outline. To rephrase slightly for a South African context, in block five, one would be responsible for:

  •       ensuring that those responsible for the development work are familiar with the relevant policy documents, curriculum frameworks, syllabi, NQF levels, etc.

  •       encouraging developers to describe the course in terms of outcomes, content, quality requirements, etc.

  •       encouraging developers to work according to a project plan, which describes routines, finances and other resources, the delegation of responsibility among those involved, plus a time schedule for work.

  •       ensuring that the development and use of course material is based on an appraisal of the target group’s needs, qualifications, knowledge, and experience.

  •       seeing that the programme does not require access to equipment that excludes significant portions of the target group.

  •       ensuring that, when there is a collaboration on course development among several institutions, the delegation of responsibility is specified in writing.

Ways of ensuring the various aspects outlined above are not specified, and need to be developed by the person or organization using the quality guidelines. Organizations are, however, held accountable if there is no action. 

Usefulness for South African Context

The NADE guidelines are useful in the South African context for several reasons:

1.  As described above, these guidelines would be extremely helpful to people involved in distance education management - they give an idea of the scope of the job and assist one in distinguishing the non-negotiable from the desirable but more long term.

2.  The guidelines could relatively easily be adapted for the South African context, and, because they do not contain very specific indicators, could allow the flexibility needed to deal with uneven provision in this country.

3.  The explicit space given for external constraints allows relevant policy and legislation to be incorporated into the guidelines without the guidelines becoming completely defined by them.

4.  The prominence given to ‘collaboration’ as a factor to consider encourages collaboration without legislating it.

5.  There is a salutary emphasis on results, as well as the importance of building evaluation into all elements of distance education provision. 

Guidelines on Quality Assurance  1994 of the Higher Education Quality Council (United Kingdom)[2]

The Higher Education Quality Council (HEQC) in the United Kingdom is an independent national body that conducts quality audits of state funded universities, higher education colleges, and, on request, private institutions as well. 

Method of Developing and Revising the Guidelines

The way in which the Guidelines were created and are continually being revised is organic and extremely consultative. The Guidelines evolved from the Codes of Practice of the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) and the regulations of the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA). They are also harmonized with relevant requirements of the British Technical Education Council (BTEC) and the Scottish Vocational Education Council (SCOTVEC). More recently, they incorporated the standards in the Charters for Further and Higher Education produced by the Department for Education and the Student Charter produced by the National Union of Students. In addition, the HEQC consults with well over one hundred institutions involved in the delivery of higher education in the United Kingdom in the process of revising these guidelines 

Relationship of the Guidelines to Distance Education

The Guidelines on Quality Assurance 1994 do not refer specifically to distance education, but will be analysed here for two reasons:

1.   They are an example of how guidelines can be effective when they originate from and are used in the context of a nationally organized quality assurance system.

2.   They are useful in analysing the extent to which guidelines for distance education are the same as guidelines that apply to all education regardless of mode of delivery. 

The HEQC is planning the development of guidelines specific to distance education. They will focus on the following areas:[3]

  •        claim of programme (what it claims to do and deliver)

  •        validity/quality of teaching and learning materials

  •        academic standards/expected levels

  •        learning resources

  •        support for students

  •        partnerships (in the area of collaborative courses)

  •        feedback arrangements

  •        integrity of student assessment

  •        legal considerations (for example, with regard to contracts)

  •        information/publicity

There was, however, considerable debate at the conference at which this idea was set out about the extent to which quality guidelines for distance education differ from guidelines for all education. The conclusion was tentatively reached that perhaps the real need is to have extra vigilance in certain areas for programmes using distance education methods. 

Objectives of the guidelines

The HEQC Guidelines are meant to ‘assist institutions to maintain and enhance the quality of educational provision for students’ by reviewing their quality assurance systems and confirming that their internal arrangements reflect good practice. They assist institutions by providing a framework to help them prepare for the Quality Audit conducted by the HEQC’s Division of Quality Audit. 

Approach to quality assurance

As is reflected in the comments above, the HEQC Guidelines do not stand on their own but have evolved from, and are integrated into, a national quality assurance system which includes quality audits of institutions. They are developed and continually revised through broad consultation. Because it is not assumed that institutions will naturally know how to use them, the HEQC, in addition to the quality audit process, conducts workshops and engages in participative research into quality issues with higher education institutions. The approach to quality assurance is best described in the guidelines themselves. The first two guidelines read as follows:

An effective quality assurance and control system is characterised by agreement throughout an institution on purposes and methods and includes a feedback loop to inform and improve the quality of educational provision.

 

An effective quality assurance and control system is underpinned by wide participation, effective channels of communication, the collection of acceptable evidence, the acceptance of responsibility by staff and students, and an institutional commitment to staff development and training. [4]

Structure of the guidelines

As with the other sets of guidelines, there is a set list of items, and a varying emphasis on the necessity to comply with the recommendations, in the HEQC Guidelines.  To reflect this, the document makes use of the sentence construction ‘Institutions will wish to …’. In some cases, there is enumeration of information that may be included as well. In addition to these guidelines, there are descriptive paragraphs which include ways to understand the Guidelines in the legal/educational context. 

The following items are included in the HEQC’s checklist:

  •       Establishing a framework for quality

  •       Reviewing quality assurance systems

  •       Admissions policies

  •       Admission requirements

  •       Information for prospective students

  •       Pre-entry guidance

  •       The selection process

  •       Facilitating student entry

  •       Quality assurance and the diversity of higher education

  •       External programme approval

  •       Internal programme approval

  •       Programme information for students

  •       Teaching and learning

  •       Evaluation of programmes of study

  •       Evaluation of teaching and learning

  •       Staff appointment

  •       Staff development and training

  •       Staff appraisal

  •       Quality of collaborative arrangements

  •       Postgraduate research students

  •       Student support services

  •       Student grievance

  •       Student progress

  •       Student assessment

  •       Appeals

  •       External examiners

A sample guideline under the heading ‘Quality of Collaborative Arrangements’ reads as follows:

When entering into an academic collaborative arrangement, institutions will wish to produce a formal, written statement that sets out the responsibilities and duties of each of the participating institutions in respect of the maintenance of standards and the protection of the student experience. 

This guideline is prefaced by a description of types of collaborative arrangements (franchising, joint programmes, validation, and accreditation), as well as advice about what helps collaboration to work well. It is followed by a step-by-step list of considerations to bear in mind when entering into collaborative partnerships. 

Usefulness for the South African context

The main point to be made about the HEQC Guidelines is that they are widely and effectively used. The reasons for this wide use are important to understand for application to the South African context. The following are some suggested reasons:

  •       They are integrated into a national quality assurance system so that institutions both feel the need to use them and are in a position to contribute continually to their revision.

  •       They have been developed through a process of consultation.

  •       The proposed development of HEQC guidelines for distance education is taking place with an awareness that distance education is part of education as a whole and not a separate educational system.

  •       Support systems and materials accompany the guidelines to assist institutions to interpret and adapt them for different contexts.

 

 Lessons for South Africa 

Clearly, quality standards are necessary to provide an agreed description of quality education. But it is equally clear that quality standards, on their own, cannot assure the quality of educational provision. They need to be used in a broader national quality assurance strategy which includes a measure of external quality control as well as the development of internal quality processes. 

This is the broad picture, but more precise questions also need to be asked: How does the situation in South Africa relate to international trends in distance education and quality assurance of distance education described in this chapter? What can we learn from what has been done elsewhere in the world? 

Clearly, there are many similarities between international distance education trends and developments in South Africa. As described in Appendix B, distance education provision in South Africa is dominated by large state distance education providers, such as the University of South Africa (UNISA) and Technikon Southern Africa (TSA), which are of the ‘open university’ type but have a fairly strong dependence on correspondence habits. The private colleges also use institution-based methods of distance education delivery. In other words, South African distance education provision falls mainly into the first two types of distance education described above. However, there are signs of innovative programmes in state-subsidized institutions, as well as in the non-governmental and private/corporate sector. The conclusion to be drawn from this is that quality standards for distance education in South Africa need to encourage development from correspondence to more sophisticated forms of distance education. In addition, while having a large institutional focus, they also need to be flexible enough to encourage the smaller scale innovations. Finally, they will need to incorporate those traditional providers of education that are increasingly turning to distance education methods in their quest to find solutions to some of the educational problems they are currently facing. 

In South Africa, as in the rest of the world, distance education provision extends across all educational sectors, and is not restricted merely to the higher and further education sector. In new educational policies, increased attention is being paid to adult basic education and training and to links between general education and further education, as well their links to higher education. A large amount of distance education in South Africa is also in the teacher education sector. Quality assurance mechanisms that are developed for distance education in South Africa, therefore, need to be appropriate to all educational sectors. International quality requirements can also not be ignored, as there is a trend, particularly in the field of higher education, towards ‘globalizing’ quality assurance. This is evident from the increasing convergence between the approaches outlined above. 

The majority of distance education students in South Africa are enrolled in state subsidized institutions. However, the numbers in private colleges are not negligible. In addition, there is an increase in the number of overseas institutions offering programmes in South Africa. Quality assurance needs therefore to cover private as well as state provision. The experience of international quality assurance, which suggests that legislation and codes of ethics are insufficient strategies, is invaluable in this regard. 

The report of the National Commission of Higher Education indicates that the great increase in demand for access to higher education is very evident in South Africa. Quality standards and quality assurance mechanisms need to ensure that quality distance education ensures success even while it provides access. There needs, therefore, to be a focus on ensuring that traditional institutions, without proper understanding of distance education, do not adopt distance education methods simply as a cost-saving device without regard for ensuring quality and cost-effectiveness. 

The numerous distance education initiatives of formerly traditional ‘residential’ universities and technikons reported in Appendix B give some indication that South Africa is part of the world wide trend towards the convergence of distance education and conventional education. In the light of this, assuring the quality of distance education should be seen as a mainstream educational activity - it is assuring the quality of education, not just part of education. This is similarly expressed in debates going on around the HEQC Guidelines. South African educational planners, decision-makers, and researchers can both learn from and contribute to such debates. 

Distance education is not a recent development in this country. UNISA became a fully-fledged correspondence college as long ago as 1946. Similarly, the Correspondence Colleges Act governing private colleges has been in place since 1965. South Africa has not been a stable democracy like Norway, but nevertheless, there has been the opportunity for the evolution of ideas relating to quality distance education provision. Hence, although some measure of external quality control is necessary, a focus on equipping organizations to take responsibility for self-evaluation and internal quality assurance processes is an important developmental process which would reflect international trends. 

Currently, because of the change in government there has been enormous expansion of interest from overseas educational institutions in South Africa as a market. This applies most particularly, of course, to distance education programmes. At the same time, the education system is undergoing major transformation to meet the needs of equity of access and quality with inadequate resources. In a climate such as this, there has to be strong direction from the state: the law of the market cannot suffice as a means of quality control. Otherwise overseas course vendors, with little sympathy for the educational priorities of the country but with plenty of technical expertise, could capture the market unfairly. 

Associations have a role to play in quality assurance of distance education organizations, but international experience, as well as experience in this country, suggests that they cannot be relied upon to carry too heavy a responsibility with respect to quality assurance, as so much depends on the energy of the leading organizations. The role of the newly formed National Association of Distance Education Organizations of South Africa (NADEOSA), for example, will mainly be in informal quality assurance through networking, information sharing, research and capacity building for members across the private, state, and non-governmental organizations which are its members. 

Legislative processes are already in place in this country or are being developed to ensure external quality control both for state and private providers across all education and training sectors. The South African Qualifications Authority Act (SAQA) and the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) will enable quality assurance for State provision of distance education and any private or non-governmental education which wishes to align itself with the NQF, while the Correspondence Colleges Act provides a framework for quality assurance of private distance education. Again, however, international experience suggests quite clearly that legislation, on its own, is an insufficient guarantor of quality. 

There are clearly both similarities and differences between the development and use of distance education in South Africa and around the world. On the basis of understanding both the similarities and differences, then, it is possible to extract those lessons which are most relevant to this country. In examining international experiences generally, as well as three specific sets of guidelines, the following lessons emerge strongly:

  •       Some minimum legislation and codes of ethics are important, but are not sufficient guarantors of quality.

  •       Guidelines/standards should be developed through a consultative process, so that they are both understood and accepted as valid by the people who will use them.

  •       Standards for education should not (as legislation tends to do) merely prescribe a minimum, but give scope for continuous improvement.

  •       Standards need to encourage a process of self-evaluation.

  •       Standards should exemplify good practice, rather than laying down too many detailed rules.

  •       Education is changing very rapidly, and any standards that are developed need to be continually reviewed.

  •       The contextual nature of education needs to be understood - external constraints and enabling forces need to be taken into consideration.

  •       In the development of standards for education, it is useful to refer to international standards such as ISO9000 because they have a salutary emphasis on results - customer satisfaction, staff satisfaction, and business results.

  •       To ensure maximum effectiveness, standards need to be supported by developmental activities focusing on the people and institutions that will use them.

  •       To ensure maximum effectiveness, standards need to be embedded in a national quality assurance system.

All of these points will need to be borne in mind as the process developing out of this research project gathers momentum. They have also been taken into consideration in the construction of the distance education quality standards framework in the following chapter and the strategic initiatives in chapter four.

 Footnotes 

[1] Information in this section is taken from: Ljosa, E & Rekkedal, T. 1993, From External Control to Internal Quality Assurance.

[2] Information in this section is taken from: Higher Education Quality Council, 1994, Guidelines on Quality Assurance, London, HEQC.

[3] These comments are taken from a paper presented at a conference on Improving the Future held in Sheffield in September 1996.

[4] HEQC. 1994. Guidelines on Quality Assurance, p. 45.

 

[1] See: Ljosa, E & Rekkedal, T. 1993, From External Control to Internal Quality Assurance.

[2] ibid, p. 14.

[3] ibid, p. 17.

[4] Information based on a conversation with Ruth Williams at the Quality Support Centre in London, October 1996.

[5] Information in this section is taken from: AECS R&D Committee, 1994, Quality Guidelines, AECS/EC.

 

[1] ibid, p. 246.

[2] Euler-Ajayi, L. 1983, Accreditation of Correspondence Colleges in Nigeria, presentation to the distance education workshop for heads of distance education colleges in Africa, held in Harare, Zimbabwe.

[3] See: Ljosa, E & Rekkedal, T. 1993, From External Control to Internal Quality Assurance, Oslo, Norwegian Association of Distance Education, p. 4.

[4] Facts taken from: Euler-Ajayi, L. 1983, Accreditation of Correspondence Colleges in Nigeria, p. 11.

[5] AECS R&D Committee, 1994, Quality Guidelines, AECS/EC (European Commission), p. 13.

[6] Oakley, D. 1992, The SATURN Quality Guide, Paper presented at the 1992 EDEN Conference, Krakow, Poland, p. 106.

[7] Frazer, M. 1992. ‘Quality Assurance in Higher Education’ in Croft, A. (Ed) Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Proceedings of an International Conference, London, Falmer Press, p. 11.