Full Paper at 29th ICDE World Conference, Costa Rica, 9th November 2023

1. National Quality Assurance
Guidelines for Digital Education:
Crafting a Multi-layered Box of Chocolates
Mark Brown, Eamon Costello & Prajakta Girme
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9th November 2023

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Vice-President of
EDEN Digital
Learning Europe

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Quality is…

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Outline…
Selection of the literature
Developing the National QA Guidelines
The most important lesson going forward

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Outline…
Selection of the literature
Developing the National QA Guidelines
The most important lesson going forward
https://www.qqi.ie/sites/default/files/2023-10/statutory-qa-guidelines-for-providers-of-blended-and-online-programmes-2023.pdf

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Underlying premises…
“Quality is an elusive
term for which there is
a wide variety of
interpretations
depending upon the
views of different
stakeholders.”
(Schindler, et al., 2015, p. 4)

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2004
“Distance education, when
properly planned, designed, and
supported by the appropriate mix
of technology and pedagogy, is
equivalent to, or in certain
scenarios more effective
than, traditional face-to-face
classroom instruction” (p. 11).
2015
2022
Underlying premises…
Not determined by
delivery mode

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Underlying premises…
“The report maintains the
position that QA needs to
be embedded into existing
institution-wide processes,
“... and not separate
from the mainstream.”
(Alan Tait, 2021, p. 9-10).
Integrated with
mainstream processes

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Underlying premises…
Synthesis of
contemporary thinking

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1. Selection of the literature

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2005 2011
2015
2015
1. Selection of the literature

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2021
1. Selection of the literature
Multi-layered

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2022
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/digital-higher-education_f622f257-en
1. Selection of the literature

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1. Selection of the literature
2022

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• An abundance of QA frameworks
• Many common dimensions shared across
the different QA frameworks
• Absence of output measures of QA
• Emergence of new QA considerations
• More research needed on how institutions
implement QA/QE frameworks
Findings…
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08923647.2018.1417658
1. Selection of the literature
Failed to identify the lack
of alignment with
mainstream quality
assurance frameworks!

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1. Selection of the literature
Culture
2022
2022

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v
1. Selection of the literature

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2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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2. Developing the National QA guidelines
2018
https://www.qqi.ie/sites/default/files/media/file-uploads/Statutory%20QA%20Guidelines%20for%20Blended%20Learning%20Programmes.pdf

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2023 March
2023 January 2023 October
2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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What in a single word is the
most important quality
consideration that you would
like to see in the new QQI
guidelines?
2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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2023 January
2. Developing the National QA guidelines
146 definitions

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Institutional QA
Processes
2023 March
Adapted
from
OECD
2. Developing the National QA guidelines
(Johnson, Seaman & Poulin, 2022)
On-campus Off-campus

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2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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Closed 9th June 2023
2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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2. Developing the National QA guidelines
Not the everyday
definition of blended learning
Generally, very positive
feedback

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2023 October
2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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2023
https://beta.jisc.ac.uk/reports/beyond-blended
2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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20/03/202
3
93%
Online
2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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93%
Online
2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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93%
Online
2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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93%
Online
2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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3
93%
Online
2. Developing the National QA guidelines

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3
3. The most important lesson going forward

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3. The most important lesson going forward
20/03/202
3
2018
2023
No more quality frameworks but greater alignment!

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EUROPEAN STANDARDS AND
GUIDELINES
While quality remains an elusive concept…
Chocolate is always
the answer no matter what
the question!
Final comment

41. Thank you!
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