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 issues in virtual education
A number of quality assurance dilemmas are common to transnational,
distance and virtual education. The first set of dilemmas concerns homoge-
neity versus heterogeneity. For example, should curricula be standardised for
mass markets or customised for particular markets, with all the attendant
costs of such customisation? Should quality principles be absolute, implying
international agreements about common conventions, or should these princi-
ples be relative, suggesting mutual acceptance of equivalence and compata-
bility rather than convergence or standardisation? Similarly, should quality
assurance arrangements be rigid or flexible?
The second set of dilemmas raises cultural issues. Is quality to be measured
in relation to the creation of dependent or independent learners, can judge-
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British Council (2001) 
The International Market for UK Distance Learning: report of a research project on
the market in ten countries, London, British Council

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ments of quality be largely tacit, based on professional judgements and peer
review or should they be explicit, based on transparent criteria and more
open reporting arrangements? Virtual education allows a great deal more
information to be collected and revealed and this may reduce the need for
peer-review systems. And finally, what are the quality dilemmas that arise
when virtual education is delivered in a competitive, for-profit context rather
than a collaborative, public-good context? These issues are taxing institu-
tions and governments both at a philosophical and a practical level as edu-
cation becomes increasingly global and as the interests and motivations of
providers become more varied and complex.
Virtual education is different from face-to-face modes in ways that raise parti-
cular quality assurance issues or requirements. The use of ICT and the
potential to cross boundaries means that more agents and stakeholders may
be involved in delivering or reviewing the education. Programmes of different
length and shape may be offered in different sites and involve a range of
choices about curricula and delivery media. Such variety adds complexity in
relation to QA arrangements. Virtual education also calls for specialist skills
and roles, implying new kinds of staff or a need for more training and devel-
opment as well as more and different levels of technical and academic sup-
port for staff and students.
Achieving consistency of curricula and QA systems (across countries or for
large numbers of learners) requires deliberate planning and management;
the traditional “cottage industry” approach to the development and delivery of
academic programmes will not achieve adequate levels of consistency of
provision or service. As mentioned above, it is possible to have considerably
greater transparency in relation to quality and standards in virtual education
since teaching and learning processes can be tracked, recorded and
measured, both in relation to each other and independently. ICT develop-
ments are also increasing the range of teaching and learning media available
and the ways in which they can be used; this is leading to potentially signifi-
cant changes in conceptions of “teaching” and “learning” which may also fun-
damentally alter concepts of quality and quality assurance.