São Paulo, 19th of September, 2003.


When Brazilians feel particularly proud of the pervading “national culture” of the specialization of the improvisation and the so-called “little ways” of doing things, there is also an implicit feeling of guilt and shame. Every well-educated person knows that any activity deserving of their time and attention must be well planned and carried out, according to  the expectations existing at their start. The term “quality” has become commonplace, as it has been used and abused in the last few years. The ABED 10th International Conference, in 2003, focused on the issues of quality in distance learning, based on the assumption that this “quality” is not something abstract or subjective, but rather the achievement of goals previously set.
                                                                                                                                                                            Prof. Fredric M. Litto

The “11th International Conference will address the issues of how to verify that – the question of evaluation. We hope, from the talks given by both Brazilian and international specialists in the fields of education and distance learning, to gather information regarding the foremost approaches and methods used today. As Brazilian institutions currently running these courses or those willing to do so are interested in both qualitative and quantitative approaches, reports on successful experiments and “words to the wise”, on the different pitfalls ahead for those venturing into this activity, are also welcome on the 11th Conference.

The “delivery”  system in a distance learning course, its effectiveness for the student’s learning, the human and technological infra-structure used and the cost/benefit relationship of all these aspects, and others, should be the focus of systematized scrutiny. Well-executed evaluations offer protection against unexpected outcomes which are a frequent result of improvisation and “little ways”. And all the players in the Distance Learning stage -  whether they are students, teachers, production and support teams, sponsors/providers or regulating agencies -  are deserving of the benefits arising from an improved evaluation approach. Among other specialists  ABED has invited to speak in the  “11th International Conference”, we have Michael Scriven, from Claremont University (EUA), Marlene Scaramalia and Carl Bereiter, from the University of Toronto (Canadá), Eva Kampitz, from the New England Accrediting Association (EUA) and Teresa Penna-Firme, from PUC-RJ. And, if the annual growth of  20% in the number of scientific papers submitted for inclusion remains steady, we will have at least 190 papers submitted for inclusion, which is a clear demonstration that distance learning in Brazil is coming of age, growing stronger and continuously expanding.

On behalf of the board of ABED, I invite all of those with a professional interest in distance education to plan their extensive participation in this 11th conference as, if the inspiring location in Bahia is any indication, not to mention the opportunity for the wealth of discussions generated by its theme, it will certainly be a memorable event.

 

Fredric M. Litto

ABED President