Abstract
Online learning is becoming an increasingly popular way for students to take courses and for faculty to teach, with the number of students taking at least one online course growing more than ten times as rapidly as the head count enrollments in post-secondary education. Clearly, the time is right to reframe a national dialogue amongst the leaders of our traditional universities and colleges about this asset.Many of the earlier dialogues amongst presidents and chancellors relative to online learning focused on the quantity and, to a lesser extent, the quality of online instruction and its promised impact on our traditional campuses. Previously, online learning was also often associated with for-profit universities which to date remain in a growth phase and are developing academic acceptance.
Highlights
Within our nation’s public universities, online courses and programs have been increasing in number
Detailed results from this survey and the accompanying data analysis are available in NASULGC-Sloan National Commission (2007), but summary results clearly show that the data provided quantitative support to themes first isolated in the qualitative study
In the NASULGC-Sloan survey, institutional leaders confirmed a strong interest in the strategic importance of online learning with 66.7% of respondents noting that online education was critical to the long-term strategy of their institution, while only 4% responded that online learning played no strategic role
Summary
Within our nation’s public universities, online courses and programs have been increasing in number. This increase has led to the establishment of a National Commission on Online Learning through a collaborative effort between the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. This commission intends to examine the core questions: how do college and university presidents and chancellors view online learning, what levels of information—both operational and policy-related—do they have about this developing field, and do they view it as a strategic asset or a newer means of teaching students?. Online learning was often associated with for-profit universities which to date remain in a growth phase and are developing academic acceptance
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