European Foundation for Quality in e-Learning

European Foundation for Quality in e-Learning

Institution	European Foundation for Quality in e-Learning (EFQUEL)
Location	Rue des Deux Eglises 35, Brussels, Belgium
Established	2005
President	Ulf Ehlers
Vice president	Albert Sangra
Members	120
Website	http://www.efquel.org/

The European Foundation for Quality in eLearning (EFQUEL) is a not-for-profit organisation which was legally established on June 30, 2005 and is based in Brussels, Belgium. It is a worldwide membership network with over 120 member organisations^[1] including universities, corporations and national agencies. The purpose of the foundation is to create a European community of users and experts to share experiences of eLearning. Two of the main initiatives of the foundation are the "UNIQUe" accreditation for Quality in e-Learning and the annual EFQUEL Forum.

Mission

EFQUEL’s mission is to enhance the quality of technology enhanced learning in Europe by providing services and support for all stakeholders. EFQUEL is built on principles of openness, dialogue and inclusiveness to promote excellence and innovation in learning. EFQUEL consists of more than 100 members from all over Europe and even beyond – the members represent associations, universities, companies, vocational training institutions and local networks. All members share the same interest: quality in technology enhanced learning.

History

The European Federation for Quality in E-Learning (EFQUEL) is a Non-Profit Association which has its origins in three successful European eLearning projects, all in the field of quality in E-Learning in Europe. The Federation is today’s largest network on quality in E-Learning in Europe and has members from all over Europe and even beyond Europe. The Federation serves as sustainable and proactive network by providing valuable services to the European e-Learning community. EFQUEL approaches quality in E-Learning from complementary perspectives and develops full-scale services for all educational fields, regional contexts and target groups. The Federation is providing support, transparency, open participation and leadership for a broad range of topics.

Over the years, EFQUEL has developed a quality portfolio that covers the quality of both products and programmes in the field of technology-enhanced learning The UNIQUe quality label focuses on the use of ICT to enhance educational provision and learning support, throughout the entire breadth of activity of the Higher Education Institution. This sophisticated approach demands an applicant to meet high quality standards for programme objectives, programme structure, content, resources and learning processes. Secondly EFQUEL hosts ECBCheck which is a new accreditation and quality improvement scheme for E-Learning programmes and institutions in international Capacity Building. It supports capacity building organisations to measure how successful their e-learning programmes are and allows for continuous improvement though peer collaboration and bench-learning.

In Q1 2012, more than 120 organisations are participating in EFQUEL's network. Among universities like the KULeuven,United Nations University, University of Jyväskylä, Politecnico Milano -METID, Vytautas Magnus University, University of Belgrade, the Universita Oberta de Cataluniya, and 50 more universities, also corporations such as Toshiba Europe or Adobe, other European networks and political bodies

Governance

EFQUEL is governed by a board of directors of currently 12 people (2012). The current presidents are Prof. Dr. Ulf-Daniel Ehlers and Prof. Albert Sangra' (Vice-President).

Activities

EFQUEL's main activities involve the creation and operation of e-learning tools and labels, as well as the organisation of the yearly EFQUEL Innovation Forum - a multidisciplinary conference bringing together experts in learning from around the world to discuss the latest innovations in learning and teaching.

The EFQUEL Innovation Forum

A yearly event that gathers experts from all over Europe to discuss innovative practices in education and training. The forum is a highly interactive place for discussing future and innovative practices, research and policy developments in the various sectors of education Information on the EIF is available on the EIF website.

Quality certifications and tools

The quality of both products and programmes in the field of technology enhanced learning varies widely. EFQUEL offers quality frameworks, tools and certifications to value excellence on institutional level as well as programme level.

EFQUEL currently operates the following quality tools and labels:

UNIQUe - a label for quality use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) by Higher Education Institutions
ECB-Check - a quality label for e-learning programmes
Sevaq+ - a tool for designing and running self-assessment and shared-assessment processes in e-learning.

Project partnerships

EFQUEL participates actively in European projects both as an initiator as well as an active project partner. EFQUEL is mainly involved in projects that focus on innovation, open access and quality assurance within various educational models and sectors. EFQUEL supports the process of developing and implementing quality frameworks and tools, assists in research and content development, sets up peer review processes and other quality assurance processes and disseminates results among its network.

Policy and research papers

During the past years, EFQUEL has developed a series of papers to enter into the discussion regarding quality and technology enhanced learning. The publications are available on the EFQUEL website.

References