I found an interesting report published in March 2010 by the Instructional Technology Council on DE in the Community College setting (wish I'd had it a few units ago!).
Of note, the report synthesized six years of survey data to say that the typical online program at a Community College:
1. Is the primary source for enrollment growth for its institution.
2. Does not offer enough classes to meet student demand.
3. Increases access to higher education.
4. Is attracting an increasing number of nontraditional (for DE - younger) students.
5. Reports to the academic side of the institution (dean or above).
6. Is under-staffed, working in cramped conditions, and has an inadequate budget.
7. Offers approximately 160 online classes/class sections each semester.
8. Has become a significant change-agent, prompting increased faculty training and professional development, rethinking how we teach, and providing a catalyst for integrating technology into instruction.
9. Often leads the institution in dealing with issues of assessment, design, rigor, course quality and learning.
10. Struggles to obtain understanding, acceptance and support from campus leaders, who often lack direct experience with this method of teaching and learning (sometimes a generational disconnect).
See link here:
http://www.itcnetwork.org/file.php?file=%2F1%2FITCAnnualSurvey2009Results.pdf
I thought the items above were interesting and perhaps may apply to other institutions, not just community colleges. I especially loved #6. :)
Let me know your thoughts on this.
Thanks!
Number 2 really rings true for me. In high school and college I took online courses from the local community college. I can remember waking up at 6am when registration opened and still not being able to get into the popular Intro to Marketing course that I wanted!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great information. One interesting aspect for me is how much we see those items outside of community colleges. For example, the growth in our own school is primarily because of online programs: http://snipurl.com/1gsemy -JD
ReplyDeleteJD and Whitney--thanks for your responses.
ReplyDeleteWhitney--it seems crazy to me that online course enrollment would have the same kinds of issues that I remember with in-person drop/add day in the 1980s. Nuts!
JD--thanks for that link. That is just the kind of fascinating data I love. So from 09 to 10, World Campus increased over 1800 people which was about a 19% increase.
I look forward to others comments on this. :)