Delivering quality higher education through e-learning: A conceptual view

Both academic and non-academic institutions such as businesses have increasingly been interested in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to support learning otherwise termed e-learning. This interest has been fuelled by the new developments in ICT such as multi-media and the Internet with its worldwide web. Other incentives have been the associated (expected) reduction of the cost of education and the easier expansion of education to the increasing market that cannot be reached by traditional delivery. Especially with higher education (HE), the issue of quality is raised leading to both anecdotal and empirical evidence of ways to maintain quality while deriving the benefits of e-learning. This paper aims to discuss the issue of quality in higher education and examine how it can be maintained in online learning. It will present key current research as well as highlight possible areas for future studies.