Distance Learning and Higher Education

Distance learning initiatives have been developing within higher education institutions for decades now and the broader impacts are being felt. This piece by Richard Williamson, Paul Burton and Shelly Sigo discusses some of the more substantial changes that distance learning may be precipitating, including the growth of new online only institutions such as Western Governors University and the growth of online enrollments in existing private and public universities. While there are some who argue that big changes are ahead of us including the demise of many colleges, others focus on how existing institutions will use online learning programs to improve their overall operations.

I discussed both of these perspectives in a paper in the Teachers College Record back in 2005. The paper, titled Modest Changes, Revolutionary Possibilities: Distance Learning and the Future of Education, identified a number of paths that higher education institutions might pursue to refine their existing offerings and others paths that would lead to major disruptions in the sector. Fourteen years later we seen to be witnessing both types of changes with a greater number of institutions engaged in modest adjustments but the fastest growing parts of the sector making major changes.