Quality and Standards in Distance Education. Report to the National Distance Education Conference.

A study to examine quality and standards in distance education identified the elements of quality, indicators that would signify their achievement, and processes that foster the achievement of quality. It focused on perceptions of quality of particular stakeholders. Documentation provided by institutions showed that they define and determine what they mean by quality of distance education against a range of objectives. Recommendations addressed issues of access and equity at national and institutional levels as factors in the quality of distance education. Concerns with appropriate policy, organization, and resource distribution led to recommendations on the following matters: resources for academic staff development; development and use of appropriate technologies; encouragement of excellence in distance teaching; and establishment of guidelines for disbursement of funds. Recommendations designed to foster the quality of processes used in distance education involved consideration of course materials and their teaching and learning arrangements and of interactions among institutions, lecturers, and students. Indicators for monitoring and evaluating the quality of distance education were identified and organized under policy development, organization and resource management, and processes of distance education. (Appendixes include indicators of quality, views of teachers and institutional clients of distance education centers regarding quality and annotations of 57 selected works.) Contains 99 references. (YLB)