Focus
Voctade is a research project in the field of distance education and training, with a particular focus on the European distance training industry market.

Goal
The goal of the Voctade project is to survey the whole EU distance training sector under these headings:

• survey of institutional provision,
• survey of enrolment statistics,
• survey of market volume,
• survey of certification,
• survey of course provision,
• survey of transportability of qualifications

• Distance Education International Ltd (DEI), the Irish distance education research and development company
• Zentrales Institut für Fernstudienforschung der Fernuniversität-Gesamthochschule in Hagen, (ZIFF) the distance education research institute of the German FernUniversität,
• Laboratorio di pedagogia sperimentale, (LPS) , Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Educazione della Terza Università degli Studi di Roma, the distance education centre of the University of Rome III.

Methodology
For the purposes of this study the provision of distance training in the EU is divided into 64 cells and each student enrolled in a distance training programme on 1 January 1997 is posited to be enrolled in one of these cells.
The cells are: 16 national groupings with Belgium being counted twice (Flanders and Wallonia) and four sectors for each national grouping:

• the distance teaching university/universities
• other university-level provision
• government distance training provision
• proprietary distance training provision.

A distance teaching university

is a university or institute of higher education set up to teach at a distance, often called 'open university'.

Other university-level provision

means the provision of distance education courses for credit from a university or institute of higher education.

Government distance training provision

means a distance education institution (or part of an institution) funded partly or wholly by taxpayers' moneys which normally teaches at further education level rather than higher education level.

Proprietary distance training provision

means a private distance education institution or part of an institution.

New research methodology
Pre-electronic educational research methodologies tended to produce data that were partial, out of date, unverifiable and the work of one person or group. Using the WWW today it should be possible to attempt to correct these failings by producing up to date and complete statistics that all can verify and that are the work of a community of scholars. The justification of such procedures can be found in an adaptation of the Delphi methodology developed by Dalkey and his associates in the 1960s at the University of Southern California.

Exclusions
A census study of a whole sector of training provision (distance training) has to be clearly defined: all must know what is being counted and what falls outside the survey. The following forms of training provision are considered to be the work of other researchers and of other projects, and thus lie outside the Voctade study:

• courses for children
• company in-house training courses in which EU citizens are not invited to enrol
• non-traditional, open or flexible programmes that are not at a distance
• hobby courses
• teach yourself books
• multimedia and computer-based-training packages
• projects, plans and hopes for the future.

Invitation
Scholars and managers and the general public are all invited to comment on the accuracy of the data presented. A cordial invitation is extended to all to contribute to the accuracy and fairness of the 64 listings. Please communicate all advice, commentary, criticism or correction to:

Post:		 PO Box 59, Blackrock, Co Dublin, IRL
Phone:		 353 12350960
Fax:		 353 12848433
Email:		 dei_at_tinet.ie