Quality Resources: Europe

Here you will find a collection of quality resources with a focus on Europe.

Introduction

The landscape of higher education in Europe has undergone significant changes, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread adoption of digital education practices and strategies. These changes are primarily reflected in three key digital education settings: synchronous hybrid, blended, and online distance education.

Dedicated open and online distance teaching universities continue to play a stable role in the European education system. However, it remains uncertain how conventional universities will leverage the institutional potential of digital education to extend their educational offerings towards open and flexible learning in a lifelong learning context. 

The European Commission actively promotes digital education through initiatives like the Digital Education Action Plan and the European Education Area, with the European Digital Education Hub facilitating collaboration and expertise exchange at the EU level. 

Quality assurance remains a crucial aspect of higher education, with national agencies in Europe adhering to the European Standards and Guidelines developed by ENQA. 

Quality assurance in the digital era faces new challenges, with the transformative influence of Generative AI on learning activities, the introduction of micro-credentials and the increased interest in internationalisation.

Quality Assurance Systems for Digital Higher Education in Europe

This publication is found in the “Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education” (edited by Zawacki-Richter and Jung), and discusses the frameworks and methodologies used to ensure quality in digital higher education across Europe. It provides a comprehensive overview of existing quality assurance practices, their implementation, and their impact on the educational landscape. 

Published by: Springer

Date: January 2023

Supporting Retention and Student Services in Online and Distance Education

The report by EADTU’s working group on Retention and Student Services addresses concerns over declining enrollments and high dropout rates in open and distance learning universities. It discusses historical and contemporary perspectives on student attrition, emphasising the need for universities to adapt to diverse learner needs. The report aims to identify factors contributing to early departure in online and distance learning and shares successful approaches adopted by EADTU members to enhance student support and retention. It is structured into three chapters covering reasons for retention issues, curriculum design, data usage, and lifecycle intervention points for student support.

Published by: Zenodo

Date: May 2024

Approaches to Quality Assurance of Micro-Credentials – A report on policies and practices to assure the quality of micro-credentials in the European Higher Education Area

This report provides an overview of the state of play of policy developments and presents latest information on various activities, initiatives and reports related to the quality assurance of micro-credentials in the EHEA. The report specifically explores different national policies, as well as practices by quality assurance agencies and higher education institutions, and positions these within the European policy context. The report is produced as part of the three-year Implementation and Innovation in quality assurance through peer learning (IMINQA) project, which supports the work of the Bologna Process Thematic Peer Group C on Quality Assurance (TPG C). The project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme. It is based on research conducted by an IMINQA working group led by ENQA (European Association of Quality Assurance in Higher Education).

Published by: The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)

Date: August 2023

A teacher’s guide to ChatGPT and remote assessments

This publication provides comprehensive instructions on using ChatGPT in educational settings. It includes an overview of ChatGPT’s capabilities, practical applications in teaching and learning, ethical considerations, and best practices for effective usage. The guidelines aim to help educators integrate ChatGPT into their pedagogical strategies to enhance student engagement and support learning outcomes.

Published by: UniDistance Suisse

Date: March 2023

Quality Assessment for E-learning: a Benchmarking Approach

This manual is to provide a set of benchmarks, quality criteria and notes for guidance against which e-learning programmes and their support systems may be judged. The manual should therefore be seen primarily as a reference tool for the assessment or review of e-learning programmes and the systems which support them.

The manual should also prove to be useful to staff in institutions concerned with the design, development, teaching, assessment and support of e-learning programmes. It is hoped that course developers, teachers and other stakeholders will see the manual as a useful development and/or improvement tool for incorporation in their own institutional systems of monitoring, evaluation and enhancement.

Published by: European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU)

Date: 2016 (Third edition)

European Maturity Model for Blended Education

This model is a framework which can be used to tackle any conceptual or implementation issues regarding blended learning, teaching and education. It indicates which dimensions are relevant for lecturers and educators, but also institutions, policymakers and educational centres. It aims to help, inspire and guide anyone who wants to implement or improve blended learning in their institution. This model consists of three levels: course level, programme level, and institution level. Each level has multiple dimensions, which together should give a comprehensive overview of the field of blended learning and education. The dimensions include indicators which describe the level of maturity.

Authors: W.F. van Valkenburg, W.P. Dijkstra, B. de los Arcos, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands and Katie Goeman, Veerle van Rompaey, Stephan Poelmans, KU Leuven, Belgium

Date: May 2020