The Cost Of Distance Education

One of a series offering practical advice and information on distance teaching, this broadsheet first looks at the reasons for trying to measure distance teaching costs and the methodological and economic difficulties involved in such measurements. Broadcasting and print costs in distance teaching are discussed, and evidence about the costs of distance teaching projects is compared, where possible, with the cost of conventional alternatives. Specific methods for analyzing costs are divided into those of particular value to either managers or to economists. Topics discussed in relation to costing for management include allocating costs, the cost of a course, the Snowden-Daniel variation, and measuring the cost of teaching, while the discussion of costing for economic analysis covers cost analysis, working out the costs, social discount rates, and the problem of cost variations over time. Conclusions include speculations on the future of distance education and cost-related factors. A list of inflation rate conversion factors is appended, and a 25-item reference list, 13 tables, and 4 figures are included. (LMM)

Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda offers a systematic overview of the major issues, trends, and areas of priority in online distance education research. In each chapter, an international expert or team of experts provides an overview of one timely issue in online distance education, summarizing major research on the topic, discussing theoretical insights that guide the research, posing questions and directions for future research, and discussing the implications for distance education practice as a whole. Intended as a primary reference and guide for distance educators, researchers, and policymakers, Online Distance Education addresses aspects of distance education practice that have often been marginalized, including issues of cost and economics, concerns surrounding social justice, cultural bias, the need for faculty professional development, and the management and growth of learner communities. At once soundly empirical and thoughtfully reflective, yet also forward-looking and open to new approaches to online and distance teaching, this text is a solid resource for researchers in a rapidly expanding discipline.

Dissecting in detail the arguments underlying the costs and economics of open and distance learning, this text should give the reader an insight and the confidence to cost their own open and distance learning projects.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the organizational models of distance and online learning from an international perspective and from the point of view of economic planning, costing and management decision-making. The book points to directions for the further research and development in this area, and will promote further understanding and critical reflection on the part of administrators, practitioners and researchers of distance education. The experiences and perspectives in distance education in the US are balanced with those in other areas of the world.

Distance education, for long the Cinderella of the educational spectrum, had emerged in the 1970s and early 1980s as a valued component of many national educational systems in both developed and developing countries. The foundation of the Open Universities, developments in communications technology and in audio-, video- and computer-based learning, a new sophistication in the design of print-based materials and better support systems for the student learning at a distance had all contributed to the availability and quality of distance education programmes. Originally published in 1988, this book chronicles this great change in distance education. It presents the best writings on the subject published during the previous ten years. The articles selected for this volume provided a new scholarly basis for the theory and practice of distance education. The editors have brought together contributions from many countries and present authoritative introductions to each of the nine sections. This book provided those in both developed and developing countries with a guideline to one of the most rapidly expanding areas of education at the time.

Recoge: 1. Introduction - 2. Origins and development of tertiary ODL - 3. The comand for open and distance learning - 4. Institucional models of tertiary level ODL - 5. Cost aspects - 6. Significant cost factors- 7. Student costs and benefits - 8. Conclusions - 9. Appendix: Distance Education Cost Models.

The second edition of this award-winning book continues the mission of its predecessor, to provide a comprehensive compendium of research in all aspects of distance education, arguably the most significant development in education over the past quarter century. While the book deals with education that uses technology, the focus is on teaching and learning and how its management can be facilitated through technology. This volume will be of interest to anyone engaged in distance education at either the K-12 or college level. It is also appropriate for corporate and government trainers and for administrators and policy makers in all these environments.

Distance education and training provision has expanded dramatically over the past few years. This best-selling introduction to the field has helped many to understand the origins and background of distance education, and has been used by students and professionals as a guide to policy and practice. It has now been updated in the light of the developments in recent years in Eastern Europe and the enormous advances in the use of new technologies. A new case study of distance education in China is also included.