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WHAT ARE SOME SOLUTIONS TO QUALITY IN DISTANCE EDUCATION?
Not all non-accredited schools and institutions are scams. Some may provide valuable services, especially in fast moving fields such as high-tech. The law should protect them from over-zealous reformers.
Seek ‘diploma mills’ and expose them to the proper authorities.
Advocate prosecution of diploma mills and unscrupulous schools (Bear, 2001).
Educate Administrators in quality methods used by businesses such as Total Quality Management, Zero Defects, and ISO standards that can be transferred to education.
ISO 9000 is a set of rigorous quality assurance procedures used by businesses that can and have been applied to any service type business, such as educational institutions (AcademyWeb.com, 2002).
Use media to inform the public on how to spot ‘diploma mills’ while respecting student’s rights to learn from anyone they choose.
Peer Reviewed Course and Program Design
“The eight regional accrediting organizations have adopted a common platform of review of distance learning…that support quality in distance learning” (Council for Higher Education Accreditation, 2002).
“The nine national accrediting organizations have independently developed standards, policies, or processes for the evaluation of distance learning. Some of these take the form of new standards…” (Council for Higher Education Accreditation, 2002).
Create laws or policies to reduce the number of legitimate accrediting organizations from the present sixty (Council of Higher Education Accreditation, 2000).
Create a culture of caring about the educational product and student outcomes at one’s school.
Create and encourage better means of assessing student, course, program and school outcomes.
Encourage and support solid research in peer-based publications. Better information will have a tendency to improve quality.
Encourage and support your institution in following accreditation procedures and requirements.