Editorial - Global Diversity of Distance Education

Abstract

The rapid rate of technological change and the rapidly growing number of institutions now embarking on Internet-based delivery means that more institutions are involved in distance education than at any other time in history. As institutions throughout the world increasingly offer courses via the Internet, there will emerge a global higher education economy in which institutions will face global competition for students, especially those involved in continuing professional education and lifelong learning. The emergence of the global higher education economy could well act as a catalyst for overcoming the institutional inertia that typifies the organisational culture of many universities. This transition from the Industrial to the Information Age was encapsulated by Dolence and Norris (1995), who argued that to survive organisations would need to change from rigid, formula driven entities to organisations that were ”fast, flexible, and fluid” (p. 31) – adjectives not typically used to describe the salient features of universities! This case study outlines the response of a well-established dual mode institution, The University of Southern Queensland (USQ), to the ”gales of creative destruction” (Schumpeter, 1950, p. 84) that currently beset higher education institutions throughout the world. Technological Development and Globalisatio Distance education operations have evolved through the following four generations (Taylor, 1995): first, the Correspondence Model based on print technology; second, the Multimedia Model based on print, audio and video technologies; third, the Telelearning Model, based on applications of telecommunications technologies to provide opportunities for synchronous communication; and fourth, the Flexible Learning Model based on online delivery via the Internet (Table 1). While the first generation has a long history, it is generally accepted that most of the technology enhanced distance learning developments have occurred over the past twenty-five years. Indeed, it is fair to say that the fourth generation of distance education is only just beginning to have an impact in many contexts, due partly to the rate of institutional development in higher education, USQ: An E-university For An E-world 2 which tends to be stymied by a predominantly conservative ethos and associated mindsets. Until recently, many on-campus educators have largely ignored the new technologies, with the process of face-to-face conventional teaching regarded as patently superior to all other forms of teaching. While distance educators have striven to overcome the tyranny of distance, the perceived constraints associated with limited opportunities for face-to-face interaction, on-campus educators appear to be basically satisfied with traditional approaches. It is in this context of institutional inertia that the senior managers and leaders of educational institutions have been bedevilled by complex decision making structures. The typical collegiate decision making process often entails a sequence of deliberation, documentation, reflection, review and refinement through consideration by a series of learned groups often including a working party, at least one committee, several faculty boards, the Academic Board, the Vice-Chancellor’s Executive Committee and perhaps the University Council. This modus operandi for management is no longer sustainable in an environment where the changing scale and scope of technological change is greater than ever. Today, change is the only constant. As more and more institutions embrace Internet-based delivery (see [http: //www.dlcoursefinder.com] for examples of courses and providers) competition for students is becoming increasingly competitive on a global scale. In effect, a global lifelong learning economy is emerging. The result is that higher education will become increasingly market driven, such that in the near future institutional success will depend primarily on students’ perceptions of flexibility of access, quality of service and value for money. Each institution has unique characteristics and will, of course, respond to these challenges in its own way. The individual response of any institution will be a function of its history, present organisational culture and the beliefs and personalities of current institutional leaders. The following exemplary case study of the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) highlights the need for institutional leaders to take a proactive stance and to generate an organisational development strategy appropriate to the ethos of their particular institution. USQ: Structures, Culture and Processes Established by the Australian Federal Government in 1967, to provide oncampus higher education opportunities primarily for residents of the Darling Downs region of Southern Queensland, The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) became a dual mode institution when it initiated distance education delivery in 1977. Twenty-three years later, the USQ has over 13,000 distance education students studying off-campus in over 60 countries, and over 5,000 students studying on-campus in Toowoomba. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning USQ: An E-university For An E-world 3 Organisational Structure An overview of the organisational structure of the University is presented in Figure 1.