Toward a Systemic Approach to Quality Assurance in e-Learning: An Ecological Perspective

Challenges brought by applications of advanced technologies in education call for new approaches that can best ensure the provision of quality e-learning experiences. This paper presents an ecological approach as one of such approaches to quality assurance in e-learning that can monitor, assess and improve the effectiveness and the links between the various elements of e-learning. The ecological model for QA in e-learning emphasizes interrelation transactions between elements (e.g. providers, learners, cultures and policies) and systemic integration of those elements, and stresses that all these elements within a QA system play an equal role in maintaining balance of the whole. The model focuses attention both on individual and societal/cultural environmental factors as cornerstones for QA efforts in e-learning. It addresses the importance of QA efforts directed at changing QA transactions from provider-centered to 'all stakeholder-oriented', from one-size-fits-all model to 'globally oriented, locally adaptive model' and from control framework to 'culture creation framework'.