More Distance-Education Students Means More Off-Site Instructors, Survey Finds
May 18, 2011, 6:03 pm
By Ben Wieder
Enrollment growth in distance education at community colleges outpaced overall growth in higher education, and colleges are increasingly turning to off-campus instructors who telecommute to deal with that demand, according to the results of the Instructional Technology Council’s 2010 Distance Education Survey.
The survey of 139 colleges found a 9-percent increase in online enrollment from fall 2009 to fall 2010, which is greater than the 7-percent overall growth and 8-percent community-college growth reported by the National Center for Education Statistics. Enrollment in online courses grew among both traditional and nontraditional students, according to the survey conducted by the council, which is affiliated with the American Association of Community Colleges.
Most campuses have tapped out on-campus faculty who want to teach online, the survey indicates. To fill the gap, 40 percent of the administrators who responded indicated that their colleges allow off-campus instructors, some who live far away, to teach the online courses.
Other key findings include an increase in blended learning programs, which combine face time with Internet activity; an improvement in completion rates for distance programs; and a rise in concerns about the accessibility of courses.
Administration of distance programs has increasingly shifted from information-technology departments to more-traditional academic support areas, which the survey indicates is a reflection of more mainstream acceptance of the programs.
The survey also found a 6-percentage-point decline in the use of Blackboard and other learning-management systems the company has acquired recently, with one-third of respondents indicating they were looking to change the system they use to a competing option.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
More Distance-Education Students Means More Off-Site Instructors
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment