Lemmens The Virtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education Bernd Wächter (ed.) Aca papers on International Cooperation in Education The V irtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education

Quality assurance and accreditation for virtual education:
A discussion of models and needs
Introduction
Some hail “virtual education” as a new paradigm, others more cautiously
view it as another mode of learning in a continuum of possible approaches.
In either case, the issue of quality is at the forefront of debates. Is the quality
of virtual education the same as that of “on-campus” or “in-classroom” learn-
ing? Should the quality be the same or different from “traditional” approaches
to education? How can the quality of virtual education be assured whenever
and wherever it is delivered?
Quality assurance for virtual education is the subject of this paper. The paper
is divided into six sections and begins by illustrating the context in which vir-
tual education is being used, drawing on the findings of recent research into
the related territory of “borderless education”
1
. The quality assurance issues
that are of concern at national and institutional levels are highlighted in the
second section. The third section illustrates some of the ways in which virtual
education raises specific issues of quality and quality assurance, before dis-
cussing the particular quality assurance needs of different groups of stake-
holders in the fourth section. The fifth part examines different models of qua-
lity assurance and compares strategies adopted in higher education and in
commercial sectors. The last section describes a number of quality assuran-
ce initiatives in different parts of the world and then grounds these by draw-
ing on some practical lessons learned in the course of delivering virtual edu-
cation programmes.
Context and terminology in virtual education
In describing the drivers of virtual education, many political, economic and
technological trends are evident. Recent reports draw attention to globalisa-
tion, the growth of knowledge-driven economies and lifelong learning agen-
das, advances in the use of communication and information technologies
(ICT) and pressures to extend access to tertiary education to greater num-
99
1
Three recent studies have addressed the topic of ‘borderless education’. The first was an Australian pro-
ject: Cunningham S et al (1998) 
New Media and Borderless Education: A Review of the Convergence
between Global Media Networks and Higher Education Provision, Canberra, DEETYA. The other two pro-
jects, one in the UK and one in Australia, ran in parallel. CVCP (2000) 
The Business of Borderless Edu-
cation: UK Perspectives, London, CVCP and Cunningham S et al (2000) The Business of Borderless
Education, Canberra, DEETYA

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bers of people. These drivers are also relevant to the wider concept of
“borderless education”, a concept that denotes forms of education that cut
across traditional boundaries. Such boundaries include sectoral boundaries
(education and industry), levels of education (further and higher), national
borders, boundaries between public and private education as well as the
boundaries of time and space that are crossed in virtual education. As these
traditional boundaries are traversed, new providers and forms of provision are
emerging that are changing our educational map of the world. These new
forms are visible both within and outside the higher education sector although
the boundaries between the two are also becoming increasingly blurred.
Outside the traditional terrain of higher education institutions, providers of
new educational products include corporate universities, for-profit education
businesses, media and publishing companies, educational brokers and edu-
cational service companies. All of these players have a contribution to make
in virtual education and many see such education as a source of revenue, a
market opportunity and a new medium for the delivery of traditional products
and services. At the same time, higher education institutions themselves are
changing their approaches to the design and delivery of education. They are
building partnerships with corporations, developing regional and international
consortia, or joining multi-agency partnerships. Virtual education is also a
central part of the changing delivery approaches in the higher education sec-
tor.
The term “virtual education” within higher education covers many different
kinds of initiative. First, there are a few “virtual universities” which claim to
undertake all their operations online, from student admissions to teaching,
learning and assessment. Jones International University (US-based) and the
International Management Centres’ Association (UK based), are two such
institutions. The second group consists of the traditional distance education
providers amongst which are some of the world’s largest mega-universities
2
.
Distance educators are moving towards virtual education as another delivery
strategy in the range of media they use for educating students at-a-distance.
The third group is made up of “traditional” higher education institutions that
are increasingly operating as “dual-mode” institutions
3
. This may mean that
they are enhancing their existing provision by the use of some “virtual” activi-
ties or that they are extending their range of products and services by offer-
ing programmes online in addition to their on-campus offerings.
Three other kinds of initiative are evident. Within the growing range of con-
sortia, some are being created in order to offer virtual educational opportuni-
ties collectively. This kind of initiative, for example, forms part of the World-
wide Universities’ Network (of five American and six British universities) and
100
2
See Daniel J (1996) 
Mega-Universities and Knowledge Media: Technology Strategies for Higher Educa-
tion, London, Kogan Page
3
See Tait A & Mills R (ed) (1999) 
The Convergence of Distance and Conventional Education, London,
Routledge

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the Global University Alliance (nine universities on four continents). “Virtual
projects” are another form of initiative, visible at many levels from institutional
to national. At the institutional level, “virtual campuses” are being developed
as the basis for managed learning environments (MLEs). At regional levels,
virtual projects may link a number of institutions, particularly in remote re-
gions. Examples include the University of the Arctic which links universities in
Russia, Scandinavia, Finland, and North America and the University of the
Highlands and Islands Project that links a number of further education col-
leges in remote parts of Scotland. At national level, a growing number of vir-
tual universities are being planned, for example, the Finnish Virtual Universi-
ty and Virtual Polytechnic, the Canadian Virtual University (linking seven
institutions), and the UK’s e-university, the holding company of which will
include more than 165 universities. In addition to these virtual projects a
range of networks exists to support the development of virtual education.
They include the International Council for Open and Distance Education and
the European Distance Education Network to name only two of a much larger
number of groups and associations. As a sub-set of the complex “borderless”
world, virtual education is itself developing into a complex tapestry.