Distance is still distant
- Article 1 of 15
- EducationInvestor, July 2010
Universities are keen to tap the profitable distance learning market. But it won’t be easy, finds Rob Buckley
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | All 3 Pages
John Brennan, professor of higher education research at the Open University, says that most universities still attach a lot of importance to face-to-face elements of education. “That’s not just the formal teaching, it’s the social aspects of a university education.” He accepts there’s likely to be more mixed-mode teaching and more online learning, but it’s unlikely to be even the majority of the average university’s teaching.
Fortune favours the brave, though. The University of Derby has been running distance learning degrees for nearly 10 years. But when it invested in its online infrastructure and courses two years ago and began to run “virtual open days”, it saw the number of enrolled students double – and the university’s online distance learning project lead, Julie Stone, says that “trajectory is likely to continue for” the foreseeable future. It could be those universities that fail to adapt that will lose out.
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | All 3 Pages