An ITC study

Released on Tuesday by the Instructional Technology Council, the 2010 survey called  “Trends in eLearning: Tracking the impact of eLearning at Community Colleges” measured the impact of several developments on the distance and online education field.

Specifically, the study recognized the ongoing economic downturn and “relevant regulatory and legislative activity” as two forces behind the 9 percent increase, an amount higher than the 7 percent overall increase in student enrollment at all higher education institutions.

Legislative measures affect online learning

In the past year, legislature has given states authorization to offer distance education to out-of-state students, increased scrutiny of for-profit higher education institutions, released the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program, passed the TAA Community College and Career Training Grants Program and the Department of Education’s National Education Technology Plan.

Additionally, Congress passed the Higher Education Opportunity Act in 2008, requiring institutions that offer distance education to “have processes in place through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the course or program and receives the academic credit.”

All of these legislative actions have helped to increase the validity and build credibility for online education, which has been doubted in the past by more traditional universities.

Other contributors to the increase

Of those who were surveyed, 39 percent identified typical growth in distance education as the reason for the increase in distance education, while 37 percent identified the downturn in the economy and 12 percent identified the new enrollment initiative as the reason.

More than 95 percent of the survey respondents identified themselves as associate’s colleges or an associate’s dominant college.

Opposing Sloan Consortium report statistics

The report for the study compared results from the Sloan Consortium report, which listed a 21 percent growth in distance learning enrollments. However, the Sloan study reviewed the academic year 2008-09 and included public, private, for-profit and two- and four-year institutions, while the ITC study only surveyed public community colleges in the 2009-10 school year.

The ITC study also included statistics on non-credit offerings. Seventy-three percent of the campuses included in the study reported to be offering non-credit online classes, which is a 9 percent increase from last year’s survey.

Conductors of the survey say this increase may have been influenced by the national economy, as well as the increased use of non-credit courses for specific skill training.

Administrator frustrations

Including community college administrators in the survey, the ITC study revealed many concerns and frustrations regarding distance education.

One unknown survey responded was quoted in the survey report saying, “The inability to have the authority to manage the program remains my primary frustration. Decisions are made affecting offerings without my knowledge and decisions are being made without an adequate understanding of the situation. I think all distance education administrators eventually ‘hit the wall’ since their organizations continue to refuse to adapt to the new reality.”

Understandably, then, the survey has tracked a steady decline in administrator confidence over the accessibility of online classes over the duration of the past three years.

The University of Houston-Victoria (UHV) will offer an all-online Master of Education in Adult and Higher Education beginning in the fall. The new master’s program is targeted towards educators who want to teach or work with adults, or in higher educations, but need online offerings so they can work at their own pace at times that are more convenient for them.

“Actively engaging adult learners requires a unique set of skills and a broad understanding of adult development,” said Thomas Cox, program director and assistant professor of education at UHV. “It requires a different skill set to deal with adults, parents, and even faculty and staff. Whether one teaches community college or provides training for adults in a school district or corporate setting, this program has the versatility to meet those professional goals.”

The online master’s offering was recently approved by The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and will be available to UHV students at the school in the fall. Several students are already taking core courses included in the program.

“It helps me do my job better because the topics and courses are related to what I do,” said UHV Registrar Trudy Wortham, who is taking the courses for personal enrichment. “I wanted to get a master’s in adult and higher education after I received my bachelor’s degree, but I wasn’t in the position to pick up and go to another school. I’m glad the university has developed this program. Any time someone can train for better educational skills, it’s a positive thing.”

Cox said students’ experiences, career goals and needs for development should be carefully considered when they select one of three concentration areas – adult education, higher education or instruction – within the master’s degree.

The master’s degree in adult and higher education assist educators in qualifying for positions such as athletic director, continuing education specialist, coordinator, curriculum specialist, department chairman, higher education consultant, program director, adult basic educator, community educator, cooperative extension educator, corporate trainer, health educator, human resources director, religious educator and more.

The online program requires 36 total semester credit hours with 15 core course hours, three hours of research, and a combination of 18 hours in adult or higher education. The instruction concentration requires 39 semester credit hours.

The program offers online courses such as The Adult Learner, Self-Directed Learning, Adult Development, IT Trends and Issues in Adult Higher Education, Higher Education Finance, Educational Leadership in Organizations, The Community College, The College Student and Introduction to Student Affairs.

Lawrence Rossow, dean of the UHV School of Education & Human Development, said the changing nature of higher education and the influx of adult learners have sparked the need for skills, insights and knowledge in the field of adult and higher education.

“Educational strategies for this group of adult learners are different than that of traditional college students,” he said. “UHV is responding to that need by offering a new and exciting master’s program that prepares students to work in formal and informal education environments outside of the kindergarten through grade-12 structure.”

Established in 1973, UHV is a four-year state university and is one of four institutions in the University of Houston System. The university offers more than 50 bachelor’s and master’s degrees and concentrations in the arts and sciences, business administration, education and human development, and nursing fields. UHV has approximately 1,600 students and some 4,200 bachelor’s and master’s degrees have been conferred.

For instance, San Diego Continuing Education, which is a part of the San Diego Community College District’s adult education branch, just received a new six-year extension, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Officials told the news source that school received its accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which states that the institution’s program stands up to the standards set forth by the approval board.

“Maintaining accreditation is extremely important because it validates the high level of instruction and service students can expect to receive when they come to our institution,” Anthony E. Beebe, president of San Diego Continuing Education, told the news provider.”

The school serves more than 100,000 students in the San Diego area and offers non-credit classes on campus and online.

According to the Babson Survey Research Group and the Sloan Consortium, nearly 5 million students in the U.S. were enrolled in online courses during the 2008 academic year.