Even though almost everybody can understand that:
many people believe that e-learning is the same as learning in a live group, and distance education or online learning is the same as full time study.
Distance Education and Accreditation. ERIC Digest.
In 1997-1998, there were more than 1.3 million enrollments in college-level, credit-granting distance education courses – approximately double the almost 754,000 formal enrollments in 1994-1995 (Lewis, Snow, Farris, and Levin, 1999, p. 50). The number of courses offered also almost doubled, with the nearly 26,000 distance education courses offered by 2- and 4-year higher education institutions in 1994-1995 growing to more than 47,500 different college-level courses in 1997-1998 (Lewis, Snow, Farris, and Levin, 1999, p. 49).
This rapid growth in distance education has created the potential for fraud and abuse. With so many courses and programs offered by so many providers, how can students determine which courses and programs are worthwhile – and which ones are shams? This digest will, after reviewing some information on distance education, discuss accreditation, the traditional method of determining the quality of higher education offerings in the United States, and its application to distance education.