The Internet and Higher Education. Achieving Global Reach

253 Pages·2009·1.14 MB·English

by  Alfred Rovai (Auth.)

The Internet and Higher Education
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The Internet and Higher
Education
Achieving global reach
A P. R
LFRED OVAI
Chandos Publishing
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Chandos Publishing is an imprint of Woodhead Publishing Limited
Woodhead Publishing Limited
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First published in 2009
ISBN:
978 1 84334 524 4 (paperback)
978 1 84334 525 1 (hardback)
© A.P.Rovai,2009
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List of figures
1.1 The assimilationist–multiculturalist continuum 25
1.2 Relationship of culture to student outcomes 27
1.3 Developmental model of intercultural sensitivity
(adapted from M. J. Bennett, 1993) 28
2.1 Persistence model (adapted from Rovai, 2003a) 41
2.2 Dimensions of cultural diversity 48
3.1 Generations of distance education technologies 71
3.2 Generations of web technologies 72
4.1 Global learning spiral 105
4.2 Course instructional design model 115
5.1 Online learning and persistence model 141
7.1 Example of a global learning programme 210
ix
Preface
An increasing number of traditional universities are transforming
themselves from single to dual-mode universities as they acknowledge
the importance of distance education and seek to become global
institutions. This transformation has significant organisational,
operational, cultural and economic implications. The purpose of this
book is draw from the professional literature in order to provide a
planning and operational framework for those universities intending to
extend their reach globally through distance education using the internet.
The distance education literature is vast and runs the gamut from
research and practitioner information on topics such as information and
communication technology, computer-mediated communication, course
design and pedagogy, to educational outcomes and costs. Moreover, this
field is in a continuous state of change as technology advances and new
innovations are implemented, necessitating further changes in online
programmes and courses. These changes fuel the need for additional
research.
This book is designed for educational administrators, faculty
members, students and others who have an interest in the topic of
distance education using the internet. Its goal is to make accessible, in a
clear and concise form, a body of current evidence-based knowledge on
online distance learning in higher education to increase understanding of
the major theories, issues, challenges and solutions. The book does not
aim to offer an exhaustive treatment of the topic, but rather to provide
a straightforward perspective of online distance education with a focus
on global and international universities. Consequently, the implications
of a culturally diverse study body are explored in each chapter.
The term online learning is used synonymously with web-based
learning and internet-based learning. The term does not suggest the entire
learning experience must be online. Blended or hybrid programmes and
courses that utilise a mix of traditional and new media are becoming
increasingly popular. Thus, the amount of teaching and learning using
online technologies can vary within any programme and/or course.
xi
The Internet and Higher Education: Achieving Global Reach
Existing books on distance education fall somewhere along a
continuum anchored at one end by a strong research orientation with
little, if any, practical advice. At the other end, the continuum is
anchored by a strong practical orientation with few links to the
theoretical and research-based underpinnings of the teaching and
learning strategies presented. Moreover, research-oriented books are
often difficult for practitioners to understand and apply, while
practitioner-oriented books may be inconsequential for the experienced
scholar. Without a theoretical basis, the practical advice lacks a
conceptual framework for planning and implementing an effective
teaching and learning strategy and may represent opinion rather than
evidenced-based solutions.
This volume focuses on the middle space between these two extremes
by balancing theory and research with practical advice so that readers
are well prepared for the excitement and opportunities of designing and
implementing distance education programmes and courses in a global
higher education environment. Various aspects of online distance
education, to include a discussion of challenges and solutions, are
presented in seven chapters:
(cid:1)
Chapter 1 covers key concepts of online higher education – historical
and research perspectives, a profile of the online student, globalisation
and internationalisation, constructivism, sense of community, self-
directed learning and adult learning;
(cid:1)
Chapter 2 covers global distance education issues – access to
technology and higher education, multiculturalism and diversity in
distance education, culturally-based online learning differences,
online racial discrimination, and academic capitalism and
consumerism;
(cid:1)
Chapter 3covers technology and the internet – generations of distance
learning technologies, Web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and beyond, open education
resources and computer-mediated communication;
(cid:1)
Chapter 4 covers designing global online programmes and courses –
single-mode online and blended designs, learning management
systems, and synchronous and asynchronous learning activities;
(cid:1)
Chapter 5 covers global online teaching and learning – computer-
mediated communication, inquiry-based learning, facilitating and
moderating online discussions effectively, and assessment of online
student learning;
xii
Preface
(cid:1)
Chapter 6 covers quality assurance and institutional effectiveness –
quality online programmes and red flags, programme evaluation,
course evaluation and programme accreditation;
(cid:1)
Chapter 7 provides a summary and conclusion.
These seven chapters are connected by six themes:
(cid:1)
the emergence of a global learning society and the role of online
distance education to satisfy the higher educational needs of this
society;
(cid:1)
transformational changes in higher education on a global scale as the
result of advances in information and communication technology;
(cid:1)
changing patterns of learning to respond to evolving individual and
societal needs;
(cid:1)
the impact of online delivery on course and programme design and
instruction;
(cid:1)
the importance of a multicultural approach to higher education as the
result of a globally diverse student body; and
(cid:1)
the incorporation of global learning themes across the curriculum.
xiii
About the author
Alfred (Fred) Rovai joined the faculty of Regent University, Virginia
Beach, Virginia, in 2000, and teaches strategic planning, programme
evaluation and statistics courses in the online education and philosophy
doctorate programmes. He previously taught online courses for the
University of California at Los Angeles online teaching programme.
Rovai is the lead editor of Closing the African American Achievement
Gap in Higher Education (2007) and lead author of Distance Learning
in Higher Education: A Programmatic Approach to Planning, Design,
Instruction, Evaluation, and Accreditation (2008), both released by
Teachers College Press. Since 2000, he has also written over 50 journal
articles and book chapters that focus on distance learning, sense of
community, and/or the roles of gender and culture in computer-mediated
communication.
Rovai graduated from San Jose State University with a bachelor’s degree
in mathematics. He completed postgraduate work in systems management
at the University of Southern California and received masters’ degrees in
public administration and education from the University of Northern
Colorado and Old Dominion University, respectively. He also earned a
doctor of philosophy degree with a concentration in academic leadership
from Old Dominion University in 1996.
The author may be contacted at:
Regent University
1000 Regent University Drive
Virginia Beach
VA 23464-9800
USA
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
xv
1
Key concepts of global online higher
education
Introduction
Worldwide enrolment in higher education is growing between 10 and 15
per cent per year (Heyneman, 2006) and some universities have become
mega-universities with enrolments in the hundreds of thousands. Higher
education participation rates of around 50 per cent are now the norm in
developed nations, whereas in some nations in South Asia and Sub-
Saharan Africa, participation rates remain below 10 per cent (Daniel,
Kanwar and Uvaliæ-Trumbiæ, 2006). In developed nations, most
universities offer some form of distance education, with the internet
being the most popular mode of delivery.
Stephen Heyneman (2006) asserts that every country has three higher
education ambitions, the first of which is to improve access. Accordingly,
access to higher education is improving throughout the world, and the
number of regions where it constitutes elite education, that is, where it
reaches less than 15 per cent of the age cohort, is in decline. The second
ambition is to improve the quality of higher education. Finally, the third
ambition is to improve equity, that is, to offer scholarships and
fellowships to able students from poor families or disadvantaged regions.
To help achieve these ambitions, educating and training students at a
distance is a major and growing element of the mission of many
universities as they respond to the needs of students beyond their
traditional constituencies and to the massification of higher education.
Online enrolments have been growing faster than overall higher
education enrolments during the past several years in many nations,
particularly in North America, Western Europe and in Australia and
New Zealand. In 2006, for example, 23 per cent of all higher education
enrolments in India were in distance education. The government’s target
1