1. Milan, 16/2/2004 Italian Report Videoconference, 16th february 2004

2. Milan, 16/2/2004 Items of the survey DETC - Distance Education and Training Council (US) Accreditation process for Educational Institutes Intra-governmental Commission – Directive for e-learning quality Proposal of guidelines and Vademecum for e-learning quality projects in PA ASFOR – Association for business management training Proposal of an accreditation process for E-learning Masters

3. Milan, 16/2/2004 DETC No profit association Founded in 1926 National institutional accrediting body for post-secondary institutions Target for educational institutes predominantly by distance federal recognition for post-secondary institution next step: extension to professional doctoral level degrees target: US + abroad 80 accredited institutions; 500 different course offer; 3 mln end-users Costs: for accrediting, 10.000-15.000 $ (estimation) For membership, 1.500 – 10.000 $ (estimation)

4. Milan, 16/2/2004 Accrediting Body

5. Milan, 16/2/2004 Accrediting Process (3) Examination Election of(2) Institution · CEO · Senior staff members: 1 min. · 100 students · personnel DETC Accrediting Commission Examining Committee · Chair · Educational standards examiners · Business standards examiners · Subject Specialists · AC observer · State observers Accreditation request (1) Decision on Accreditation (4) Accrediting Time

6. Milan, 16/2/2004 Application Content: I.Institution mission and objective II.Educational program objectives, curricula and materials III.Educational services IV.Student Services V.Student achievment and satisfaction VI.Qualification of owners, governing board members, staff/faculty, administrators VII.Admission practices and enrollment agreements VIII.Advertising, promotional literature, recruitment IX.Financial responsibility and Ethics X.Tuition policies, collection procedures, refunds XI.Plant, equipment and record protection XII.Research and self-improvement

7. Milan, 16/2/2004 GOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION Temporary commission, founded in June 2003 Composed by MIT- MFP - CNIPA National relevance Target Public Administration as committer and end-user of eL projects Educational Institution Main Task On-going project for proposing e-learning guidelines & Vademecum for PA No accreditation of e-learning providers neither programmes

8. Milan, 16/2/2004 Commission structure With contribution of local agencies, providers and end-users MIT Ministry of Innovation and Technology CNIPA National Centre for IT in PA MFP Ministry of Public Affairs University experts ASFOR ISFOL ……

9. Milan, 16/2/2004 Application contents Professional training and long life education All the e-learning process form the Concept to the Release phase Macro areas of quality criteria a) ICT facilities to buy, that’s hardware and software facilities, applications and tools b) Learning contents and services production and updating c) Project management d) Quality criteria for service evaluation

10. Milan, 16/2/2004 ASFOR Association for Business Management Training Founded in 1971 no profit private association National relevance Staff: ISVOR FIAT, MIB- School of Management; TELECOM Italia; SDA Bocconi; IBM Business Consulting; Confindustria, etc. Membership: more than 60 institutions and biggest companies Target of the special Work Commission Educational institution providing masters on line Main Task On going project for defining an Italian accrediting process for on line master programmes

11. Milan, 16/2/2004 Application contents Master in General Management Specialist masters Master in Business Administration Criteria of eligibility

12. Milan, 16/2/2004 Focus points of criteria I.Admission procedures II.Didactic methodologies III.Duration and articulation IV.Faculty V.Evaluation process VI.Tutorship and didactical services VII.Technical and support equipment, standards VIII.Customer satisfaction IX.Other criterias already identified for residential courses

13. Milan, 16/2/2004 Further resources 1) ODL QC - Open and Distance Learning – Quality Council Standards: Sections and specific criteria 2) SEEQUEL – Sustainable Environment for the Evaluation of Quality in e-learning http://www.education-observatories.net/seequel/index E-learning quality Forum + Laboratory The SEEQUEL project aims at taking the required step to establish a European "eLearning Quality" Forum, that will address the following issues: Quality assessment, evaluation and conformance practice; Cases of "good practice" and design guidelines; Quality assurance frameworks (with criteria and standards).