How about distance learning?

Distance learning (DL) took on new importance with the rise of the internet. It was suddenly possible to reach students 24/7 at any location in the world. Would DL be a disruptive innovation (in the Christensen sense, see Disruptive Technologies: When Great Universities Fail?, March 3, 2006 ) in higher education? What use might traditional universities and colleges make of DL? How would for-profit higher education utilize this new tool and how might universities respond?

In early 2000, I wrote a piece Distance Learning: Challenges and Questions to inform our trustees of some issues and opportunities in this area. This later developed into an article published in Change 32, 20 (2000), and one should read the Change article as it went somewhat beyond my piece for the trustees. Although the internet world has changed a lot since 2000, most of the questions and issues I discussed in these articles are still pertinent.

I discussed some of the differences between conventional DL and that which is possible with “new” DL in which new technologies such as the internet, CD ROMS, computing power on every desk, and artificial intelligence are brought to bear. The major difference between the two that I saw was that conventional DL was generally based on an extension of the traditional classroom lecture. The students move through the subject following a linear path defined by the professor at a pace defined by the professor. The new DL, on the other hand, could use the new technologies to enable a new learning experience in which the student’s learning needs drove the way in which she went through the course. Students could move from subject to subject in their own time and their own order, and material could be presented in a way that was much more interactive than a lecture.

I discussed internet-mediated DL both as a sustaining and as a disruptive educational force (see for definitions Disruptive Technologies: When Great Universities Fail?, March 3, 2006). As a sustaining force, for example, it enables the university to replace its geographically limited TV network with web access world wide, and to add more sophisticated  interfaces that enable students to see e.g. powerpoint slides as the faculty lecture. It also enables universities to better serve existing constituencies, such as alumni. It has many aspects of a disruptive force, however. For example, the implementation of the new learning experience described above would call for a knowledgeable professor to define the material to be taught, an expert in multimedia pedagogy to create the structure, technical people to implement, and assessment experts to define appropriate assessment tools. Thus, the traditional vertical integration of university teaching in which a single faculty member defines the subject matter, determines the pedagogical approach to use, and presents the material would be broken. The new DL also enables institutions to begin to access constituencies that had previously belonged to another (e.g.enrolled and accepted students), and removes physical limitations on the number of students that can be served by any institution.

I discussed several possible strategies for dealing with different aspects of the disruptive potential of DL, and suggested possible responses of students to these new possibilities. I also discussed the impact of DL on brand creation and brand dilution. Finally, I touched on the possible role of for-profit DL providers. As the title of the Trustee paper says, it is about challenges and questions, not answers.

Comments

[Larry Rossdale]

I had a great experience with distance learning. I got my distance learning degree at Liberty University and couldn't be happier. Check out their website at http://www.luonline.com