Friday, February 4, 2000

Commission's Chairman Says Congress Need Not Regulate Distance Learning By DAN CARNEVALE Washington Sen. Bob Kerrey, the chairman of the new Congressional Commission on Web-Based Education, said Thursday it would probably not recommend new laws to regulate distance learning. Instead, he said, the commission was most likely to look for other ways of encouraging distance-education providers to offer high-quality programs. The comments from Mr. Kerrey, a Democrat from Nebraska, followed the commission's second day of hearing testimony. Among other assertions, members heard that higher education should continue to regulate itself as it ventures into the age of online learning. Senator Kerrey said it would probably be best if Congress did not pass any laws that might impede the growth of distance education. But he also said that the government should look for other ways to persuade new for-profit universities to adopt high standards for their Web-based courses. How? "You can go from writing a law all the way to jaw-boning and encouraging them to do it," he said. The commission is made up of senators, congressmen, educators, and representatives from the private sector whose charge is to study the growth and accessibility of online education and eventually to recommend what the government should or should not do. The commission plans to complete its report to Congress by November. Judith Eaton, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, was among those who testified Thursday. She made it clear that she thinks current accreditation bodies can figure out how to judge the quality of new education techniques, including online learning. "We have to be flexible and creative about the application of accreditation," Ms. Eaton said. "I don't think we need a law, and I don't think the federal government ought to do it." Alan Arkatov, a member of the commission who is chairman of the Web-based course provider OnlineLearning.net, said private distance-education providers must be held to the same levels of quality as traditional institutions in order to protect students shopping for Internet courses. "We have to keep the quality at a very high level, but we can't discourage the entrepreneurial spirit," he said. The commission's members are: Senator Kerrey. Rep. Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia (commission vice chairman). Patricia S. Abraham, professor of technology and education, Mississippi State University. Alan Arkatov, chairman, OnlineLearning.net. George Bailey, director of educational program development, Center for Continuing Education, University of Montana at Missoula. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico. Richard W. Brown, faculty mentor, education division, Walden University. Susan R. Collins, senior vice president, BigChalk.com. Rep. Chaka Fattah, Democrat of Pennsylvania. John Gage, director of science, Sun Microsystems Inc. Richard J. Gowen, president, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Douglas R. King, president and C.E.O., St. Louis Science Center. Florence McGinn, English teacher, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, N.J. Nancy Pfund, principal, Private Equity Group, Hambrecht and Quist. David Winston, senior vice president, Fabrizio, McLaughlin, and Associates. Background story from The Chronicle: Software Certification Is Proposed at First Meeting of Web-Education Commission (2/3/2000) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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