Breaking boundaries: Quality E-learning for the global knowledge society

Abstract

The ideas and issues raised in this paper reflect a global challenge to understand the nature of E-learning in a knowledge society so that appropriate quality frameworks can be developed for new educational environments. Elearning, online learning, virtual classes and mobile learning (m-learning) evolved from distance education, and struggle to gain recognition and accreditation in mainstream education as legitimate quality higher education providers. The increasing use of information technology advances, particularly the internet present new educational paradigms and models that challenge conventional assumptions and indicators of quality assurance. Technologies are tools and in themselves are independent of quality. It is the selection, effective and appropriate use of technology in education that can improve pedagogy in diverse cultural, knowledge and delivery paradigms. What is needed is the development of global standards and quality assurance frameworks to evaluate the changing educational paradigm. This article seeks to explore the critical questions of how quality is defined, who sets whose standards, who will teach what to whom, and with what effect in times of competing paradigms in the parallel worlds of reality and virtual reality.