Distance Education and the Evolution of Online Learning in the United States

Online education is no longer a trend, rather it is mainstream. In the Fall of 2012, 69.1% of chief academic leaders indicated online learning was critical to their long-term strategy and of the 20.6 million students enrolled in higher education, 6.7 million were enrolled in an online course (Allen & Seaman, 2013; United States Department of Education, 2013). The advent of online education and its rapid growth has forced academic institutions and faculty to question the current styles and techniques for teaching and learning. As developments in educational technology continue to advance, the ways in which we deliver and receive knowledge in both the traditional and online classrooms will further evolve. It is necessary to investigate and understand the progression and advancements in educational technology and the variety of methods used to deliver knowledge to improve the quality of education we provide today and motivate, inspire, and educate the students of the 21st century. This paper explores the atioevolution of distance education beginning with correspondence and the use of parcel post, to radio, then to television, and finally to online education.

Investigating and Understanding Student Learning Outcomes in an Online and Face-to-Face Graduate Level Legal Administration Course: An Embedded Mixed Methods Design

Online education is a new teaching and learning medium with few current guidelines for faculty, administrators or students. Its rapid growth over the last decade has challenged academic institutions to keep up with the demand, while also providing a quality education. Our understanding of the factors that determine quality and effective online learning experiences that lead to student learning outcomes is still evolving. There is a lack of consensus on the effectiveness of online versus face-to-face education in the current research. The U.S. Department of Education conducted a meta-analysis in 2009 and concluded that student-learning outcomes in online courses were equal to and, often times, better than face-to-face traditional courses. Subsequent research has found contradictory findings, and further inquiry is necessary. The purpose of this embedded mixed methods design research study is to further our understanding of the factors that create quality and successful educational outcomes in an online course. To achieve this, the first phase of this study measured and compared learning outcomes in an online and in class graduate-level legal administration course. The second phase of the study entailed interviews with those students in both the online and face-to-face sections to understand their perspectives on the factors contributing to learning outcomes. Six themes emerged from the qualitative findings: convenience, higher order thinking, discussions, professor engagement, professor and student interaction, and face-to-face interaction. Findings from this study indicate the factors students perceive as contributing to learning outcomes in an online course are consistent among all students and are supported in the existing literature. Higher order thinking, however, emerged as a stronger theme than indicated in the current research, and the face-to-face nature of the traditional classroom may be more an issue of familiarity than a factor contributing to learning outcomes. As education continues to reach new heights and developments in technology advance, the factors found to contribute to student learning outcomes will be refined and enhanced. These developments will continue to transform the ways in which we deliver and receive knowledge in both traditional and online classrooms. While there is a growing body of research on online education, the field’s evolution has unsettled earlier findings and posed new areas to investigate.

Towards the Consideration of the U.S. Community College Model to Address the Need for Higher Education Reforms in Ghana

ABSTRACT The higher education systems throughout the continent of Africa are undergoing unprecedented challenges and are considered in crisis. African countries, including Ghana, all have in common ties to their colonial legacy whereby they are confronted with weak policies put in place by their colonizers. Having gained their independence, Africans should now take responsibility for the task of reforming their higher education system. To date, nothing substantial has been accomplished, with serious implications for weakening and damaging the structures of the foundation of their educational systems. This qualitative, single case study utilized a postcolonial theory-critical pedagogy framework, providing guidance for coming to grips with the mindset posed by Ghana's colonial heritage in the postcolonial era, especially in terms of its damaging effects on Ghana's higher education system. The study explores alternative pathways for secondary school students to transition to tertiary education--a problematic transition that currently hinders open access to all and equality in educational opportunity, resulting in a tremendous pool of discontinued students. This transitional problem is directly related to Ghana's crisis in higher education with far reaching consequences. The alternative pathway considered in this study is an adaptation of the U.S. community college model or an integration of its applicable aspects into the current structures of the higher education system already in place. In-depth interviews were conducted with 5 Ghanaian professors teaching at community colleges in the United States, 5 Ghanaian professors teaching at universities in Ghana, and 2 educational consultants from the Ghanaian Ministry of Education. Based on their perspectives of the current state of Ghanaian higher education, analyzed in terms of pedagogy, structure/infrastructure, and curriculum, the participants provided their perceptions of salient aspects of the U.S. community college model that would be applicable to Ghana's situation, along with other recommendations. Access to all, including equality of educational opportunity, was considered essential, followed by adaptability, affordability, practicality, and quality of curriculum content and delivery. Canada's successful adaptation of the U.S. model was also discussed. Findings can help guide consideration of alternative pathways to higher education in Ghana and Africa as a whole.