The Survey Of Distance Learning Programs In Higher Education 2014 Edition

This study looks closely at the finances, educational management, enrollment prospects, technology use, advertising strategy and other facets of distance learning programs in higher education. The 165+ page report gives detailed data on the following: enrollment trends, tuition prices, marketing spending, program costs, role in developing MOOCs, use of and plans for use of MOOCs from other institutions, and much much more.

Of major findings -- Methodology -- Enrollment growth -- Use of products and services from distance learning suppliers and vendors -- Use of web-based courses -- Third party course providers -- Departmental assistance to the distance learning program -- Use of technology -- Copyright and licensing issues -- Tuition costs -- Tailor-made courses for industry and government -- Consortium membership -- Adverstising and marketing the distance learning program -- Centralization of DL college bureaucracy -- Courses offered and staff salaries -- Profitability and cost structure.

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.

The study examines how academic libraries are serving their institution’s distance and blended learning programs, including the impact of the rapid development of MOOCs and the increasing use of lecture capture in online courses. The study looks at staffing, budgets, salaries and other nuts and bolts aspects of college library programs to serve distance learners. It also probes how librarians communicate with distance learners – through online information literacy courses, online tutorials, instant messaging and a strong presence on course management systems, among many other ways. The study offers hard data on the percentage of distance learning librarians that archive and use lecture capture materials, their spending on licensed films and other intellectual property for distance learners, and the ways that librarians track contacts with distance learning students and much more.

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.

The e-learning research literature is characterized by studies that investigate the practice of teaching and learning online (pedagogy) and those that investigate the planning and administrative functions associated with e-learning delivery (management). This edited volume directs attention to pedagogy and management as it relates to the primary e-learning delivery mechanism, the course management system (CMS). Specifically, the research presented in this collection deals with a range of themes relevant to the selection, implementation, use and evaluation of course management systems in higher education. The primary audience for this book includes instructors and students in instructional and educational technology programs. The book could easily be used as a text in a distance or online learning course. The secondary audience includes instructors and students in higher education programs and e-learning practitioners and administrators. The book is timely because of the growing presence and influence of course management systems on teaching and learning in higher education.