A Holistic Approach to Defining Excellence in Online Education: Challenges and the Way Forward
1. Dr. Narimane Hadj-Hamou
Assistant Chancellor for Academic Development. HBMEU, Dubai
President of the Middle East e-LearningAssociation
The 6th EDENWorkshop: User Generated Content Assessment –
EnhancingTransparency and Quality
24th - 27th of October, 2010
Budapest, Hungary
2. This Presentation Covers:
What is Excellence?
Who defines Excellence?
Pillars of Excellence
Challenges and the Way Forward
The MeLQ Framework
Defining Excellence in Online Education
3. Excellence is the state or quality of excelling.
It is superiority, or the state of being good to a high
degree.
It describes the furthest end of the quality spectrum. When
we think of excellence, we think of an outstanding aspect, a
model of its kind - the very best there is
Excellence is perceived to be a value.
4. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not
an act, but a habit.
Aristotle (384 – 322 BC)
11. Plan
DoCheck
Act
(Generic) approaches to
plan quality
Best- and
good practise
examples/guidelines
benchmarking
Quality certification
and accreditation
Meeting Excellence
(competitions)
Quality awards
15. "Someday, in the distant future, our
grandchildren's grandchildren will
develop a new equivalent of our
classrooms. They will spend many hours
in front of boxes with fires glowing
within. May they have the wisdom to
know the difference between light and
knowledge."
(427-347 BC)Plato
16. An open system is a system that
regularly exchanges feedback
with its external environment.
Open systems are systems, so
inputs, processes, outputs,
goals, assessment and
evaluation, and learning are all
important.
Adapted from “Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development”
17. A modern university, or
"multiversity," has to operate as a
part of society, no longer as an
ivory tower apart from it.
1911-2003
Former UC Berkeley President Clark Kerr
21. teaching
delivering answers
directed learning
instruction
conveying knowledge
educating technical
problem-solver
creating instructional media
learning
facilitating problem-solving
self-regulated learning
collaboration
sharing ideas
educating
reflective practioners
creating social spaces
Traditional society … Knowledge society …
22. Source: Bransford, Brown & Cocking (1999)
Organized
knowledge
structure
Social
embeddedness
(learning
community)
Formative
assessment
(feedback)
Focus on
learner
(active
learning)
23. "If we don't focus on the experience
dimension of learning, we run the
risk of mistaking the publishing of
information for learning and
training"
Elliott Masie
26. Distance learning is a more
general term that includes e-
Learning.
It is any formal educational
process in which the majority of
instruction
and learning takes place with the
student and instructor physically
separate from one another. Distance Education in 1960s
27. Re-defining the Learning Environment
E-learning is not just
“e-Training – it is the synergy of
information-on demand,
multimedia communication,
instruction, the discovery and
exploration that interactively
engages the learner with
greater learning opportunity.
Richard Otto
Cognitive Design Solutions
31. “The illiterate of the 21st
century will not be those who
cannot read and write, but
those who cannot learn,
unlearn, and relearn.”
AlvinToffler
“The illiterate of the future
will not be the person who
cannot read. It will be the
person who does not know
how to learn .”
41. Lack of recognition of e-learning in many countries=
absence of standards
Lack of differentiation between quality standards in e-
learning and conventional education
Global versus contextualized standards
Difficulties in selecting appropriate quality
approaches
Lack of research and exchange of practices in some
regions of the world
43. Long term strategy and policy formulation
Community interaction – raising awareness
Effective practices organization and dissemination
Institutional competency building
Collaborative research work around e-learning quality
framework
Partnerships and Special Interest Groups –
Communities of Inquiry
45. A joint research project between HBMeU and scil.
It addresses the distinctive needs of HE and Corporate sector
It is built around quality improvement practices.
It considers various stakeholders’ views
It considers the particularities and the context of the MENA
region.
It is multi-dimensional approach that covers educational,
organisational, technological, and economic challenges that
arise when implementing e-learning.
46.
47. StrategicDimension
Institutional Mission &
Strategy
Target Population
Faculty & Staff
Development
Learning&Teaching
Dimension
Teaching & Learning
Approaches
Learning Outcomes
Learners’ Interaction
Learners’ Assessment &
Feedback
Instructional design
Program/ Course
Review
Organizational
Dimensions
Information to prospect
learners’
Intuitional effectiveness
Responsiveness to
needs
Learners’ Services
ChangeDimension
Stakeholders’ perception
of change
Workload, compensation
matters
Ownership and IP
Philosophy of change
EconomicalDimension
Resources Availability
Cost Effectiveness/ROIs
Risk Management
Technological
Dimensions
E-Learning Tools and
Infrastructures
IT Strategies
Accessibility & Usability
Content Reusability
Information security &
data discovery
50. MeLQ Governance Framework
Best Practices Board
Provide feedback on certification
process & quality framework
International Awarding
Body
Awards the quality certification
Supervisory Board
Setup the certification process and
monitors the progress of the quality
system
Research Unit
Conduct ResearchActivities to further
the development of the quality
framework
MeLQ Governance
Executive Office
Position & promote theQA framework
MeLQ and manage the day to day
operations of the office
51. Dr. Narimane Hadj-Hamou
Assistant Chancellor for Academic Development. HBMEU, Dubai
President of the Middle East e-Learning Association
n.hadjhamou@hbmeu.ac.ae