How colleges can enhance
their global image by using Online learning technology
The ability of the Internet
to deliver and facilitate learning has caused a rift in the centuries old
tradition of the instructor-led face-to-face learning model. This new technology,
which has integrated itself into the very fabric of our lives, promises to
usher in the greatest changes in the principles of learning since the printing
press was invented and students received their first mass-produced books.
The e-learning paradigm is
predicated on the ability to deliver skills, knowledge and training via
non-traditional electronic means with many smaller colleges forging
partnerships with bigger institutions, as well as the corporate world, in order
to share technology and best practices in an effort to deliver education
electronically.
Enrollment in college-level
online courses continues to climb at an almost dizzying rate. While many
colleges were initially slow to embrace e-learning technologies, and yet
others have still failed to embrace it at all, there is evidence to indicate
that e-learning will continue to gain in popularity and that the quality of
e-learning will rival that of face-to-face learning within the next three to
five years.
Online educational revenues are
expected to grow from the current $4 billion level to nearly $11 billion by
2005. Research indicates that up to fifty percent of traditional classes will
soon be available to e-students.
As early as 2001 there were
520 degree-programs and almost 56,000 institutions offered courses
using distance education according to figures released by the U.S. Department
of Education. Public institutions continue to lead private institutions in e-learning
and other types of distance education offerings. Online learning is becoming
commonplace and the number of courses offered is expected to grow at a rate of
40% annually.
Reasons for the Online Trend
A combination of the
acceptance of a global economy, changes in traditional family and workplace
roles, shifts in population masses away from the urban areas and a host of
economic factors including economic downturns, increasing gas prices, and a
greater gap between the middle and upper classes have all impacted enrollment
in colleges and universities.
Today’s technology allows
working adults to continue their education without creating unmanageable
conflicts between their work and their home life. It also accommodates the
needs of young students who are extremely computer literate and who favor an
on-line environment versus attending traditional lecture-based classes. As an
added bonus they can learn at their own hours instead of the ‘unreasonable’
wakeup times that traditional educational environments require.
E-learning also appeals to
the elderly and the physically challenged who might otherwise feel
uncomfortable in a residential learning environment. Graduate students, and
those enrolled in MBA programs, are among the most willing group to participate
in eCampus programs.
According to the 2003 Sloan Survey of Online Learning:
- Over 1.6 million students took at least one
online course during Fall 2002.
- Over one-third of these students (578,000) took
all of their courses online.
- Among all U.S. higher education students in Fall 2002, 11
percent took at least one online course.
- Among those students at institutions where
online courses were offered, 13 percent took at least one online course.
- The number of students taking at least one
online course is projected to increase by 19.8 percent over the one-year
period from Fall 2002 to Fall 2003, to include a total of 1.9 million
students.
- Eighty-one percent of all
institutions of higher education offer at least one fully online or
blended course.
- Complete online degree programs are offered by
34 percent of the institutions.
- Among public institutions,
the numbers are even more compelling, with 97 percent offering at least
one online or blended course and 49 percent offering an online degree
program.
- Perhaps most telling, when
asked about the role of online education for the future of their
institution, 67 percent answered that it is a critical long-term strategy
for their institution.
With educational expenses
skyrocketing, and donations and funding plummeting, e-learning is also viewed
as a way to make less money go farther by both the student and the institution.
Despite the current obstacles, including technology curves and human
resistance, e-learning can no longer be ignored and it is not going to “go
away” if it is ignored.
Taking advantage of the
trend
Once a college makes the
decision to embrace the trend, the advantages of offering e-learning alternatives
begin to appear. The most obvious benefit is that the availability establishes
the school’s reputation as being a cutting-edge institution. This, in turn, attracts
the attention of the media, industry and, of course, students who are seeking a
non-traditional learning environment. The resulting publicity drives more
attention towards the school and towards their e-learning programs.
The institution is able to
recruit students from a truly global marketplace without concerning themselves
with campus size, student housing, or any of the myriad support requirements
that housing and educating live bodies entail. This provides new revenue
sources for the colleges without the direct corresponding increase in cost per enrolled
student.
As e-learning moves
steadily towards center stage there is a risk of non-participating schools
being perceived as technologically inferior by both students and other colleges
who have moved to embrace the technology. While this may be an insignificant
concern to the top Ivy League schools and the biggest state colleges, smaller
schools, especially community colleges, run a risk of seeing a corresponding
drop in enrollment as competition heats up in the next three years.
Educational institutions
that institute e-learning programs are perceived as working harder to forge
stronger partnerships with employers. These colleges and universities are more
likely to receive financial and technological support from the business world
because employers have a vested interest in seeing the e-learning environment
flourish.
All of this simply proves
the point that e-learning is a win-win for the educator and the educated.