E-xcellence

Overview

E-xcellence (pronounced “E-excellence”) is an EU-funded project run by EADTU (the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities) with the assistance of 12 other partners. It has a project web site at http://www.eadtu.nl/E-xcellence/.

E-xcellence started in January 2005 and concluded in November 2006, with a major launch at the EADTU conference in Tallinn, Estonia, 23-24 November 2006.

Originally E-xcellence was not envisaged as a benchmarking methodology but as a quality monitoring tool, but at about a year into the project there was a shift in emphasis and benchmarking is now one of the uses envisaged for E-xcellence. In fact there are three orientations of the methodology:

• Assessment tool (at both institutional and programme level) (i.e. benchmarking)
• Quality improvement tool (internal quality care system)
• Accreditation tool for accreditation

Expected outcomes have been:

• Inventory of benchmarks for "good" e-learning (i.e. these include related criteria and indicators setting standards of excellence and indicators for validation)(a web-based guide)
• On-line self-assessment tool "QuickScan" based on the identified benchmarks
• Manual on good practices directly related to the benchmarks
• Quality assurance system (internal validation based on the standard of excellence)
• Reports on pilots which will test the validation approach
• Establishment and training of a visitation team both for quality assurance and for accreditation (to be seen as distinct procedures)

The basis of the E-xcellence benchmarking methodology is as follows:

1. some 50 excellence benchmarks are formulated and devided over 6 categories of stategic management, curriculum design, course design, course delivery, staff support and student support.
2. Exactly 33 of the 50 benchmarks are categorised as threshold. Threshold for e-learning is defined by the the E-xcellence team as crucial for interactiveness, accessibility and flexibility of the e-learning programme. These are found in the QuickScan.
3. Each criterion is a bundle of indicators.
4. Criteria are graded currently at four levels but numeric scores are not used and a total score is not computed.
5. The "threshold" level can be determined by the QuickScan online self-audit, but the "excellence" level requires in addition a visit from an expert team.

Relevance to UK HE

• Due to information not being available by the deadline of late August 2006, there was no initially perceived relevance to Phase 1 of the Higher Education Academy Benchmarking Exercise. Despite that, two of the four MIT90s institutions in Phase 1 did make use of criteria derived from E-xcellence and at least one of the Pick&Mix institutions said that it was "interested" in the E-xcellence criteria (in the event this interest did not seem to come to much).

• However, as an emerging criterion-based methodology now mapped into MIT90s, E-xcellence might have become relevant to Phase 2. (Note that the Higher Education Academy did not make any commitment to this.)

Further information

• The QuickScan approach is described at http://www.eadtu.nl/e-xcellenceQS/
• A concordance report on E-xcellence and its relevance to the UK HE scene in general (and MIT90s and Pick&Mix in particular) is now available and linked from late December 2006 blog postings on MIT90s and Pick&Mix.
• George Ubachs spoke on the E-xcellence project at Online Educa Berlin on 1 December 2006.
• A report of a meeting in July 2006 between E-xcellence Project Manager George Ubachs and members of the Benchmarking Team at the University of Chester (plus HE Academy and advisors) is now available, rather vaguely entitled Informal meeting of Pilot Team and External Guests, which contains some useful information.

Phase 2

E-xcellence is not being used by any institution in Phase 2. However, it is believed that one or two institutions are interested in whether some of the E-xcellence criteria may inform their analysis of their distance learning provision,

Outside the Higher Education Academy benchmarking exercise there appears to be no recent public news on E-xcellence and no indication that it is being actively used by any institution.

The project

Now read E-xcellence - creating a standard of excellence for e-learning

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