Distributed Learning

Brian Hawkins & Diana Oblinger

October 12, 2000

Consider a few facts….

The US currently spends $740 billion per year on education...

... more than is spent on national defense

… more than the GDPs of Spain, Canada or Brazil

Moe, 1999

Consider a few facts….

• Distance education is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 33% (IDC)

• Demand for distance education will grow to 15% of all students by 2002

• The e-learning market is expected to reach $46 billion by 2005

Consider a few facts….

• Over 5,000 competitors offer all types of e-learning; no single competitor has more than a 5% market share

• Last year, over 100 e-learning portals entered the market

• Partnerships between “non-traditional” providers and universities are increasing

Distributed Learning

Thinking about whether

and/or

how to enter this area

www.northcarolina.edu/educause/de/

Hype or Reality?

• How large is this market?

• What will be the impact on residential education?

• What role should “my” campus play?

Concerns to be Examined

• Definition of distributed learning

• Realistic estimates of the market

• Institutional motivations

• Assumptions

• Matrix of responsibilities

• Institutional readiness

Definitions

Distributed learning is the delivery of education via electronic media, including intranets, extranets, satellite broadcast, etc. It uses technology to deliver learning that is independent of time and place.

The Marketplace

• Higher education is not a single marketplace.

• It is a host of markets and distributed learning adds even more market segments.

Traditional Students

•18-22 year olds•16 million students

New Traditional Students

•18-22 year olds•4 million more

•Many campuses are out of space•Might need 130 new campuses•New campus costs:

•$350 M to build•$323 M to operate

•Is this a realistic solution?

Adult Learners in the US

• 28 million

• Workforce should spend 20% of time engaged in learning

• Equivalent to 30 credits every 7 years •Do we have the space?

•Will they even come to campus?

International Learners

•Possibly 100 million

•Results in potentially huge market

How Realistic are the Projections for US Providers?

What effect do the following have on the size and complexity of the market?– Language– Culture– Cost– Connectivity

Other Potential Market-Limiting Factors

• Ability to pay

• Willingness to pay

• Role of accreditation

• Transferrability

Who is the Competition?

• Professional Advancement

• Business Health Teacher training

• Apollo, DeVry, ITT

Focused Market Players

• Shared risk

• Leverage

• WGU, KVU

• Unext

Higher Ed Consortia

• K-12 arena?• Charter & role• Sylvan

• Alumni• Community

Remediation & Enrichment

• Mass scale

• Internal conflicts

• Provant, Ziff

Corporate Training

• Viability?

• Leverage?

• Infrastructure cost?

• Marketing cost?

Individual Campus Strategy

Institutional Motivations

• To increase access to education and to serve the public good

• To increase capacity

• To improve teaching and learning

• To make money

Assumptions

• The course is the unit of measure for learning

• Traditional institutional models will be successful

• Quality from for-profit providers is inferior

• Distributed learning is a viable option for all institutions

Topics

• Rationale/Need for DE• Definition• Market• Academic Issues• Technical Issues• Support/Services• Organization• Policies• Financing• Institutional Self-Assessment

Technical Issues

• Hardware/software

• Network

• Support

• Course management systems

• Content conversion

• Security

Academic Issues

• Articulation

• Program selection

• Student readiness

• Quality

• Residency

• Workload

• Rewards

Policies

• Intellectual property

• Conflict of interest

• Conflict of commitment

• Accessibility

• Appropriate use

• Privacy

Support Structures

• Application

• Registration

• Counseling

• Library

• Career services

Integration

• Does your distributed learning plan integrate with:– institutional plan– academic plan– financial plan– technology plan?

• Can your campus effectively collaborate?

Risk

• Is your campus prepared for the risk:– external forces– internal forces– market risk– economic risk

Summary

• Is distributed learning right for us? Today? In the future?

• Have we analyzed the market correctly?

• How do we divide the responsibilities to ensure success?

• Are we ready to move forward?