The number of programmes activated by the institutions that responded to the survey varied between one and 184, although twelve institutions offered six or less courses. The duration of the programmes varied between one month and four years, and the total number of students enrolled between twelve and 156 thousand, where nine institutions had less than 200 students, eight institutions ranging between 960 and 3000 students and two institutions catering for larger numbers. Two-thirds of the institutions (12) had programmes specifically aimed at vocational training.

All except two institutions that responded to the survey stated that some educational pre-requisites were necessary for enrolment in their programmes. Of these, all but one indicated that a school-leaving certificate was required, with a few institutions stating either that an admission exam was also required, that it was necessary to belong to a special category, possess specific educational credits or work experience in the field.
D

Where a schooling certificate was required, in ten cases this was an upper secondary school-leaving certificate and in five cases a university degree. In the case where it was necessary to belong to special categories, these were identified by laws on the compulsory employment of physically, psychologically or socially disadvantaged persons.

Eleven of the respondents stated that some or all of their programmes provided legally recognised certification. Nine stated that they thought that students who had completed a distance learning programme had been provided with a preparation which was at the same level compared to a face-to-face programme, three that they had been provided with a better preparation and one with a worse preparation. According to most respondents (10), schooling certificates which have been acquired at a distance are considered in the work market at the same level as those acquired in a face-to-face programme, while for three respondents they are considered worse, one of which noted that this was because the quality of distance learning courses and the assessment methods used are unknown to the public.

Courses offered at a distance ranged from marketing courses; banking courses, written and oral communication, financial markets and other courses for banking managers and clerks; biology of construction and ecology for architects, construction-engineers and craftsmen in the building trade; price-calculation of buildings; courses in surveying, construction and estate management for valuers, builders, quantity surveyors, town planners and property developers; building conservation and arbitration for charted surveyors, architects and builders; facilities management and shopping centre management; distance education theory; urban sociology for political science students; Trade Union and business studies for Trade Union officials; computer, electronic and mechanical engineering; radio, electronics and television; courses for pharmaceutical technicians, for dispensing opticians, for librarians; law, economics, information theory, occupational health.

D

A vast majority of respondents stated that both direct and mediated modes of interaction were used during the course, with two institutions stating that only direct modes of interaction were used and one that only mediated modes were used. All except two institutions stated that the interaction took place between a student and his or her tutor, eleven or twelve institutions stated that interactions took place also between students and teachers and between the students themselves. Interaction between tutor and teacher and between student and programme manager were also mentioned.

The most frequent direct modes of interaction are those with the objective of further study of course materials, taking place on average every one or two weeks, followed by didactic support, study counselling (every 2 or 3 weeks), practical exercises, verification of achievement (every 3 weeks), socialisation among students, administrative information (every 4 weeks) and lastly handing out of educational material (every 6 weeks). Each of these objectives was indicated by eleven to thirteen institutions, a few of which stated that there was no regular interaction but that the frequency varied and depended on the requests of the students.

D

The mean frequency of interaction has been calculated, for the institutions which did indicate a frequency of interaction, weighting once a year as 1/52, once every 4 months as 1/17, once every six weeks as 1/6 and so on.

Concerning mediated modes of interaction, the post is the main medium used in most cases for administrative information, verification of achievement, handing out and further study of course materials, and practical exercises. The telephone is the main medium in most cases for didactic support and study counselling. E-mail is often used for didactic support. Other modes mentioned are videoconferences, face-to-face sessions, the use of software and internet.

D

Tests for the assessment of learning are administered weekly by five institutions, monthly by six institutions, between every two to six months in three institutions and at the end of the course, teaching unit or subject in three institutions. One institution mentioned that the frequency depends on the personal learning path of the student.

The assessment tests used are prepared in most cases by the teachers of the programme (15), followed by tutors (11), specialised internal staff (7) and external staff (4). In one case the tests are present on the market and commercialised independently from the course and in another case it is the authors of the course that prepare the tests.

D

During the course, all but one institution used structured methods to collect information, with seven using also semi-structured methods and eight institutions using open methods as well. The structured methods mentioned were questionnaires, evaluation sheets and multiple choice tests. The semi-structured methods and open methods mentioned were informal feedback and interviews.

Concerning the mode of correction of the assessment tests, in most cases it is done manually. Only four institutions rely on an automatic correction programme. The manual correction of the tests is undertaken in almost all cases by teachers and/or tutors (10), but in a few cases tests are corrected also by the administrative staff (2), in addition to the tutors, by the chamber of commerce and by the pedagogical department (1).

Feed-back on the results of the assessment tests is given to the students in all the institutions that responded to the survey. The majority of respondents stated that information on wrong answers (16) and individual comments on the results of the tests (15) were communicated to students, eight stated that predefined messages giving remedial help in case of wrong answers were used, and five that alternative learning materials were given. In most cases feedback was given through the post (12) and in six/seven institutions face-to face or telephone interviews and telematically mediated interaction were used.

The data collected during the course (test results and replies to questionnaires) are inserted in an electronic archive in ten institutions, archived only in paper format in six institutions, and not kept at all after the student has finished the course in one institution only. Records are kept in fifteen institutions with the objective of undertaking further analyses, and in eleven cases to keep a complete documentation of the materials produced by the students.

The analyses of the data collected during the course were undertaken in more institutions with the objective of evaluating the quality of the programme, than with the objective of adapting the course to individual students' requirements. Most respondents stated that an objective of the analyses was that of checking the adequacy of the learning materials (14), closely followed by the evaluation of the quality of the learning outcomes and the educational interaction, the adequacy of the communication means used, and the efficiency of the management system (12). To evaluate the quality of assessment procedures, anticipate the areas of major difficulty for each student and to structure different educational courses was an objective in ten institutions, followed by adapting the speed of the programme to students' needs (8), monitoring interactions (6), and defining individual student profiles (5). Finally, only four institutions stated that one of the objectives of the analyses was to plan specific background learning courses or specific recovery or remedial courses for each student.

The analyses undertaken were described in the following terms: qualitative and quantitative data analyses; inferential statistical analyses (from qualitative to factorial analyses); percentage pass rates on each module, comparisons between percentage pass rates, comparisons between distance learning results and national (traditional) results, comparisons of pass rates between one year and the next; diagnostic, formative and summative evaluation, statistical analysis of recurrent errors, calculation of the percentage of wrong answers for each module and for each question.