Why is it crucial to accredit distance education programs? Ensuring quality in the age of online education
By Sandra Sturla, Instructional Designer – Centro de Innovación Latinoamericana en Tecnología Educativa (CILTE)
Distance education is growing, and with it, the need to ensure its quality.
Today, virtual education is a daily reality for thousands of students. In recent years, more and more people are choosing to pursue higher education degrees online: for work reasons, because they live far from educational centers, or simply to seek more flexibility. This sustained growth in distance education options presents a new challenge for the education system: how can we ensure that these educational offerings maintain the quality standards that students, educators, and institutions expect?
In Argentina, this is one of the main goals of CONEAU: the National Commission for University Evaluation and Accreditation. This organization evaluates whether university programs meet certain quality standards. For programs offered entirely or partially online, it also assesses how institutions organize and guarantee this mode of delivery.
What is an SIED and why is it so important?
The accreditation of university programs in Argentina is a key function of CONEAU, which aims to ensure that educational offerings meet academic and pedagogical quality standards. For distance education programs, this process takes on a particular dimension, as it involves evaluating not only the content and learning objectives but also the technological infrastructure, teaching strategies, and student support and monitoring mechanisms. As detailed in CONEAU’s publication (2023) The Evaluation of Distance Education Quality, the accreditation of these programs considers specific criteria that respond to the unique characteristics of the virtual mode, ensuring that institutions have the necessary resources and processes to offer quality distance education.
In this context, one of the fundamental requirements for a higher education institution to offer programs in a distance learning format is to have a System for Institutional Distance Education (SIED). This system brings together organizational decisions, technological and pedagogical resources, and management strategies that allow for the integrated planning, implementation, and evaluation of virtual educational proposals.
A well-developed SIED should include:
- An accessible and stable technological platform.
- Specific training for instructors.
- Resources and materials adapted to digital environments.
- Clear strategies to support students.
- Internal systems to control and improve the quality of what is offered.
CONEAU evaluates these aspects through institutional reports and technical visits and grants or denies approval to offer programs in this modality. In its 2021 document The SIEDs in Argentina, CONEAU details how this process has evolved and what aspects are key to strengthening it.
What is happening in other parts of the world?
In Europe, countries like Italy and Spain have similar systems for evaluating distance education. National agencies such as ANVUR (Italy) or ANECA (Spain) analyze pedagogical, technological, and organizational aspects before authorizing new online programs. In many cases, accreditation includes student interviews, review of materials, and analysis of teaching support.
In its report The SIEDs in Argentina (2021), CONEAU presented a detailed analysis of the first stage of the evaluation and validation process of Institutional Distance Education Systems, highlighting how universities began structuring and formalizing this modality. The document served as a status record and allowed for the identification of best practices, common challenges, and opportunities for improvement. Currently, as outlined in the publication The Evaluation of Distance Education Quality (CONEAU, 2023), the approach has consolidated: CONEAU continues evaluating SIEDs through institutional reports and technical visits, with criteria that are increasingly integrated into institutional improvement processes and quality assurance in virtual contexts.
An invitation to think about quality from a future-oriented perspective
Accrediting a program is not a bureaucratic procedure: it is an opportunity to review, improve, and strengthen our educational offerings. In distance education, where the connection is not in person and students have greater autonomy, ensuring quality is crucial to guaranteeing meaningful learning experiences.
As an academic community, we face the challenge of continuing to learn about these processes, sharing experiences, and working together to make virtual education increasingly inclusive, accessible, and of the highest quality.
What is CILTE doing to support these processes?
At CILTE, we believe that training is key to addressing these challenges. That is why we created the self-paced course Introduction to the Process of University Evaluation and Accreditation for Distance Education Programs in Argentina. In this course, we explain in simple terms what CONEAU is, how an SIED works, what requirements exist to accredit online programs, and how institutions can improve their offerings. The course is available at: https://cilte.org/cursos-cilte/
References
CONEAU. (2021). Los SIED en la Argentina. National Commission for University Evaluation and Accreditation. https://www.coneau.gob.ar/archivos/publicaciones/18-03-2021-Los-SIED-en-la-Argentina.pdf
CONEAU. (2023). La evaluación de la calidad de la Educación a Distancia. National Commission for University Evaluation and Accreditation. https://www.coneau.gob.ar/archivos/publicaciones/La-evaluacion-en-Educacion-Distancia.pdf
OEI. (2020). Guía Iberoamericana para la Evaluación de la Calidad de la Educación a Distancia. https://oei.int/oficinas/secretaria-general/publicaciones/guia-iberoamericana-de-evaluacion-de-la-calidad-educacion-a-distancia/
Redalyc. (n.d.). La evaluación de programas a distancia en España. https://www.redalyc.org/journal/340/34056722008/html/
Caled. (n.d.). La evaluación y acreditación de programas e instituciones de Educación a Distancia en Italia. https://www.caled-ead.org/sites/default/files/files/5-16-Analisis-nacionales-La%20evaluaci%C3%B3n.pdf