Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20 June, 2005 The Market Request for Quality and/or Accreditation in Lifelong e-Learning KTH = Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (Royal Institute of Technology), Stockholm MMB = MMB Institut für Medien- und Kompetenzforschung (MMB Institute for Media and Competence Research), Essen

Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20 June, 2005 The Market Request for Quality and/or Accreditation in Lifelong e-Learning  The 1998 Recommendation on QA in HE -mandate: Commission to support and report report  Bologna declaration/process (June 1999), Prague (2002), Berlin (2003), Bergen (2005), London (2007)  Lisbon Strategy (March 2000): “Education&Training 2010 – EHEA 2010“ (to make the European Union “the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world” by 2010)

Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20 June, 2005 The Market Request for Quality and/or Accreditation in Lifelong e-Learning  The 2005 the Bergen communiqué: Degree system is implemented in a large scale (<2010). Quality assurance: European Network for Quality Assurance (ENQA). Recognition of degrees: 36 of 45 countries, large market, life long learning embeded in higher education, and under development. Accreditation.

Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20 June, 2005 The Market Request for Quality and/or Accreditation in Lifelong e-Learning  The 2005 the Bergen communiqué: Research and higher education; synergies. Social dimension. Equal accessibility Þ Distance learning. Mobility Þ Distance learning. Open, attractive to other parts of the world, academic, sustainable Þ Distance learning, business. Continental cooperation about regional developments.

Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20 June, 2005 The Market Request for Quality and/or Accreditation in Lifelong e-Learning “ ‘Accreditation’ is review of the quality of higher education institutions and programs. …it is a major way that students, families, government officials, and the press know that an institution or program provides a quality education.” (

Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20 June, 2005 The Market Request for Quality and/or Accreditation in Lifelong e-Learning So what do education organizations in Europe think about accreditation? Survey!

Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20 June, 2005 DLAE survey: “e-Learning accreditation in Europe“ Highlights of an explorative inquiry among e-Learning providers in Europe

EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20th June, 2005Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel Methodological background 31 providers of e-Learning courses took part in our survey 21 universities 10 private providers of vocational training Function of interviewees: e.g. director of studies, CEO, research associate Kind of courses offered by the interviewees: e.g. European Net Trainer, Business Information Technologies, Tele Trainer, Master of Business Administration Note This survey is exploratory and does not claim to give representative results

EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20th June, 2005Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel Accreditation in e-Learning Is your course accredited? Reasons for abstinence no legal requirement as yet no strong regulation to accredit courses without BA /MA- certificate quality is implicit in the course no national standard up to now no advantages for the market Yes (16) No (14)

EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20th June, 2005Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel Criteria of accreditation judgement

EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20th June, 2005Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel General object of accreditation... the course (nominated 26 times) easier to accredit the accreditation procedure doesn’t take so much time it is a quality criteria for the client / the customer... the institution (nominated 17 times): it is a quality criteria for the client / the customer if an institution has proved a high level of quality about some years, the accreditation body should take this into consideration Accreditation should testify...

EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20th June, 2005Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel Accreditation: Preferences

EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20th June, 2005Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel Accreditation: Problems & Requirements External evaluators have external criteria which do not always fit with the realities of the institution Students and alumni should be taken into account much stronger Unique definition of „quality“ E-Learning is quite new to most of the evaluators, this leads to inconsistent criteria Extreme standardisation may lead to arbitrariness (anything can be accredited) Not always enough information about the reputation of the accreditation body (important for the acceptance in the market) The evaluator‘s „e-pedagogical“ competencies should be as good as the provider‘s

EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20th June, 2005Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel „Optimal accreditation“: Requirements It should be: Fast, to make sure that the provider has no drawbacks in business Standardized, to make it fast Transparent, to make it comparable to others Affordable

EDEN 2005 Annual Conference 20th June, 2005Authors: Göran Karlsson, Lutz Michel Thank you very much for your attention! For more information: