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One with much to learn about ODL feels the most important lesson is that learners have a right to reassurance.
The ODL market is changing. Distance learning is no longer seen as second best, but as a real alternative to face-to-face education, with an important role in lifelong learning. Moves in this direction are heralded by the success of learndirect and the creation of ILAs.
At one American university distance-taught modules are compulsory, and internationally e-learning is a new and exciting prospect.
These are positive phenomena, raising the profile of ODL and allowing more people to benefit from the opportunities it offers. However, they pose new challenges for the sector and for ODL QC as the official accreditation body for distance learning.
Before November I knew not a great deal about open and distance learning. Before my interview I definitely had not heard of ODL QC. My friends and family (admittedly not currently looking for ODL courses) had not either. An Internet search on distance learning revealed several interesting sites, but none in which ODL QC appeared.
This is obviously a cause for concern. If prospective learners are not aware that we exist, (or worse cannot distinguish between us and other less creditable organisations which have been brought to our attention) how then do they choose from the bewildering mass available with any confidence?
So what are our aims? What role should ODL QC play at the start of the new millennium?
If unaware of how to choose quality the public is likely to be cautious about the whole sector (as I was). Credibility is all-important and any bad publicity could damage the sector as a whole.
So learners need, and need to be aware of, an organisation dedicated to raising standards and protecting their interests.
Image is important and we have given ours a 'facelift' (which unlike that of Lambeth Council did not cost 5 million to do!). We hope it gives ODL QC a more modern, contemporary feel, and plan to use it for all our future publications. The new logo is available in 'gif' form on disk and we would encourage all accredited providers to add it to websites and stationery.
Changing the way we look has also meant re-designing our other materials. Substantial re-writes of our accreditation packs are underway, which should make them easy to use as well as more aesthetically pleasing.
Learndirect have provisionally agreed to add the logo to their website when next they update their database. This will be extremely useful in increasing the Council's recognition and in highlighting accredited providers as elite in ODL. Hopefully, a similar agreement can be reached with the body that administers ILA grants.
Our website (www.odlqc.org.uk) has now been submitted to major search engines which should make us easier to find.
You should by now all have received a copy of our Buyer's Guide to Distance Learning Courses. The objective is to help the learner find the right course, at the right price, and of a high quality. The response so far has been lively and encouraging. By distributing it widely, to libraries, careers advisors, FE colleges, learning centres, Awarding Bodies and Chartered Institutes, we aim to raise awareness of our work in new quarters.
To this end we will be increasing our efforts to place articles in relevant journals.
Another recent development is a leaflet entitled Promoting Quality in Open and Distance Learning. This aims to explain the work of the Council and the benefits of accreditation and will distributed using our new database of private sector providers.
Predicting the future is a fool's game, but ODL QC's work in promoting quality in open and distance learning seems far from complete.
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