Determining a framework for institutional support of instructors engaged in distance education programmes using the multiple-criteria decision-making method

Distance education (DE) has a unique potential to ensure continuity of education in extraordinary circumstances such as pandemics and earthquakes, in addition to its advantages such as flexibility in terms of time and space and self-paced learning options. Institutional support provided for instructors engaged in DE programmes is one of the factors which directly affect the efficiency of DE and the quality of the education provided. This study aimed to determine the criteria of institutional support offered to DE instructors through document analysis, and to reveal the importance weights of those criteria by using the method of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). The author examined the standards published by a number of accreditation institutions and international educational organisations for DE, and determined the importance weights of those criteria by applying an analytic hierarchy process (AHP). She determined seven support criteria, namely (in order of importance): (1) technical training and orientation; (2) teaching material and resource support; (3) technical support; (4) professional development support; (5) support during the course; (6) evaluation and report submission support; and (7) career development, incentives and financial support. In presenting her study, the author provides an effective evaluation framework for DE support systems which includes a comprehensive set of indicators based on a literature review and feedback from experts.