Abstract
<p class="1">This paper presents a study focused on a trajectory for developing an online operating mode on a campus-based university in the area of Massachusetts, USA. It addresses the innovation process and the changes and challenges faced by faculty and administrators. Methodologically-speaking, a mainly ethnographic approach was used for a systematic process of collecting data in context, in order to understand organizational strategies put in place to launch and improve online course provision. Leaders of the process and teachers of online courses were also interviewed. What emerged was: a) the online operating mode was prepared much in advance and linked to scenarios of internationalization and inclusion in higher education; b) there was an underlying discourse of inter-connectedness among different places and groups of people; and c) the partnership and collaboration between administration and faculty was essential. One of the main conclusions demonstrates that, despite careful formulation of the online component, it still does not enjoy the same status as the face-to-face element of courses, and, as a result, is largely ignored in terms of promotion in the teaching profession.</p>
Highlights
Over the past two decades, online education has been expanding rapidly and is a well-established mode of education in countries throughout the world (Conole, 2007; Edmundson, 2007; Stella & Gnanam, 2004; Vrasidas & Gene, 2006)
The findings show that the trajectory to online education at the university under study was prepared much in advance with a rationale that was sustained and proportional to technological progress at the time and linked to local experiences and conditions
Throughout this process, three important moments emerged: i) the creation of an experimental group in the early 1990s, which studied the technology available at the time and attempted to integrate it into the university, simultaneously investigating the possibilities of online educational provision to serve the goals of the university; ii) the creation of the University Online segment in 2001, which offered back-office services to support the technological development of online teaching, as well as marketing and development, iii) the creation, in 2010, of an independent financial and pedagogical unit that supervises, implements and develops online provision and simultaneously cares about professional development
Summary
Over the past two decades, online education has been expanding rapidly and is a well-established mode of education in countries throughout the world (Conole, 2007; Edmundson, 2007; Stella & Gnanam, 2004; Vrasidas & Gene, 2006). From On-Campus to Online: A Trajectory of Innovation, Internationalization and Inclusion Moreira online education courses and programmes exist alongside face-to-face courses, providing a wide range of possibilities for students to choose. This panorama is the result of different measures and policies to support educational and technological development, such as the dissemination of Information Communication Technologies (ICT), cheap telecommunications, the existence of open resources and digital libraries, and the spread of access points. The E-learning in European Higher Education Institutions (Gaebel, Kupriyanova, Morais, & Colucci, 2014) survey states that: Besides pedagogical and economic motives, the institutions refer to a growing need for flexibility of time and place, and better use of resources, benefiting both residential students and a wider range of professional and other lifelong learners. (p.7)
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