Quality signals in Italian academic web sites of on-line courses

During the last few years Italian universities have undergone a considerable transfomalion. The re-engineenng of educational counes and the tenching, financial and administrative indcpendence of thc universities is creating the conditions EURor a growth in compeiitiveness in the market for university education and, consequently. fora gradua1 reduction in the position rents. In order to acquire larger quotas of the market, Italian universities have notably increased the educational oppominiiies on offer and alongside the tradiiional type of face to face education they have beyn to introduce new ieaching methodologies based on the use of the Web. Sincc it is not necessary for the lessons to be adminisiercd and attended at the same time or in the same place. online courses can be made available io al1 Italian students and in this way give rise to a new, highly competitive markei. Following the pilot scheme in 2000 (iun by the Milan Polytechnic), in 2002 therc were 13 online courses for first degrees on offer at different Italian universities. Online courses for higher degrees and masters were even more numerous and diverse. The present paper aims to analyse the supply side of this new educaiional market, in particular its present dimensions and future prospects. Special atteniion is given to the evolution of the nationat regulations applied to online university courses over the course of the last ten years.