The Knowledge Economy and Postsecondary Education Report of a Workshop (2002) / Chapter Skim
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3 The Impact of the Changing Economy on Four-Year Institutions of Higher Education: The Importance of the Internet
3 The Impact of the Changing Economy on Four-Year Institutions of Higher Education: The Importance of the Internet
Pages 77-104
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From page 77... ...
A rapidly growing student population is becoming older and increasingly diverse. In addition, the new economy requires a workforce capable of handling an exploding knowledge base, and industries are looking to educational institutions to provide the necessary education and training.
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From page 78... ...
Bookstores sell learning materials in both the "place" and the "space." Academics, consultants, and managers have commonly described the stages involved in the process of creating value in the physical world as links in a "value chain." The value chain, according to Rayport and Sviokla (1994) , is a model that describes a series of value-adding activities connecting a company's supply side (raw materials, inbound logistics, and production processes)
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From page 79... ...
Rather than focus on the creation of whole new institutions, we need instead to consider another characteristic of the virtual value chain: the ease with which its links can be disaggregated, or pulled apart. Unlike the physical value chain, which exists as a linear sequence of activities with defined points of input and output, the virtual value chain is nonlinear, a matrix of potential inputs and outputs that can be accessed and distributed through a wide variety of channels.
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From page 80... ...
A few words about terminology are in order. Throughout this paper, the terms distance learning, distance education, distributed learning, virtual learning, borderless education, and online learning are used more or less interchangeably.
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From page 81... ...
While remaining a suitable option for the minority of college students who match the traditional profile, residential education alone simply cannot serve the needs of today's working adult students. Concerns About Quality and Cost As demand for higher education continues to grow, public concerns about the quality of traditional institutions are increasing as well.
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From page 82... ...
In the information technology field, Java or Microsoft certifications are at least comparable to higher education degrees and are perhaps even more important (Adelman, 2000~. Many states including Washington, Colorado, and Illinois are considering requiring exit exams at every level of higher education.
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From page 83... ...
college students, has regulated monopoly enterprise somewhat akin to a public utility. Today, the natural monopolies of higher education institutions are rapidly coming to an end, at least in their immediate service areas, as distance education, supported by advancing educational technology, grows in capacity.
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From page 84... ...
In the virtual university environment in which there are no boundaries of geography or time, today's system of funding the institution rather than the individual will make less and less sense. One thing is certain.
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From page 85... ...
We also know that there is a significant difference between the abstract, reflective learning style of most college and university professors and the ways in which professors approach teaching and the more concrete, active learning style typical of their students (Schroeder, 1993)
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From page 86... ...
A New Higher Education System What is emerging is a new higher education system what some have called a "global learning infrastructure," a student-centric, virtual, global web of educational services as the foundation for achieving the learning goals of society today (Twig" and Miloff, 1998~. This vision contrasts with the current brick-and-mortar, campus-centric college or university; it even goes beyond the paradigm of the virtual university, which remains modeled on individual institutions.
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From page 87... ...
Distributed Learning: The Convergence of Face-to-Face and Distance Education Many people in higher education view "distance education" as something disconnected from the core academic program. Others counter that this idea derives from how distance education was conducted in the past and that today's distance learning programs are becoming fully integrated into campus life.
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From page 88... ...
Adult students, with their primary emphasis on professional advancement, want learning that is as close to "just-in-time" as they can get. Yet almost all four-year institutions still follow a traditional term-based calendar, even for their online courses.
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From page 89... ...
It is not surprising that most studies of distance education produce "no significant difference." Since individual professors replicate traditional approaches in the online environment, why should we be surprised at the result? In contrast, new providers ranging from the British Open University to traditional commercial publishers and newly created software companies have moved to a production model of course development and delivery.
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From page 90... ...
Courses developed and offered in those areas that demonstrated improved quality of learning and/or reduced cost of instruction have a potentially enormous student audience. Conclusion The world of virtual education brings with it the dissolution of geographical boundaries in the postsecondary education industry.
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From page 91... ...
Four-year institutions no longer have a monopoly on quality. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES POSED BY VIRTUAL EDUCATION The emerging world of virtual education poses tough challenges for those organizations be they traditional institutions or new entrantswho aspire to be players in the new educational marketplace.
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From page 92... ...
All involved agree that there is much to learn about how to motivate, support, guide, teach, and evaluate students in these new virtual environments. Advocates of online education suggest that technology-mediated education has the potential to enable an active learning process, to support extensive interaction among students and between instructor and students, and to build community among students, professors, and other partners.
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From page 93... ...
Establishing Market Position New systems of organization and concerns about quality lead to the necessity of identifying an institution's competitively sustainable areas of greatest strength. What role does an institution want to playor, equally important, want not to play in the new virtual environment?
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From page 94... ...
Consequently, most classroom activity, by design, lacks an applied-knowledge focus. In addition, the extent to which significant virtual education activities can be undertaken within existing college and university structures is open to question.
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From page 95... ...
In other states, the effort involves both public and private institutions such as the Kentucky Virtual University (KYVU) , the Michigan Virtual University, the Illinois Virtual Campus, and the Ohio Learning Network.
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From page 96... ...
Independent Nonprofit Institutions Another category of participants in the virtual education space is independent nonprofit institutions. Some of these like the Western Governors' University (WGU)
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From page 97... ...
In 1999, Britain's Open University (BOW) announced plans to begin offering an Americanized version of its distinctive distance education program through a U.S.-based sister institution, the United States Open University.
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From page 98... ...
The significant increase in the number of corporate universities could be a sign that companies no longer consider continuing education and training as a cost that should be cut but rather as an investment that can attract and retain the best workforce. Companies may realize that they must prepare employees to compete in the global economy, to meet and exceed service expectations, to adjust to changing roles and new technologies, and to respond to current and future global pressures.
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From page 99... ...
Even Motorola University, a frequently cited corporate university exemplar, generates only about 7 percent of its revenue externally, mostly through enrollment in courses like "How to Establish a Corporate University." Some observers believe that corporate universities represent a potential threat to traditional institutions. Until very recently, colleges enjoyed a captive market, and corporations paid whatever institutions charged for executive education.
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From page 100... ...
In the process, they are creating new "brands." Conclusion Three important points emerge from our brief analysis of the current organizational developments in virtual education. First, each type of institution is being driven by the demands of the changing economy and the needs of the New Majority, despite differences in strategies for development.
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From page 101... ...
The key concept here is the disaggregation of institutional structures and processes, a disaggregation made possible largely by the capabilities of information technology the virtual value chain. New providers of products and services are targeting pieces of the educational enterprise as the source of new businesses, pieces that can then be reaggregated under entirely new, flexible arrangements.
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From page 102... ...
Most of this software is currently designed to be used in a traditional classroom or learning laboratory format. But it doesn't take too much imagination to see the possibilities for a new outsourcing business model that provides remedial educational services, an area that many institutions would gladly cede to others.
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From page 103... ...
(1995~. Exploiting the virtual value chain.
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From page 104... ...
in response, institutions have rapidly increased tuition and students and parents have taken on significantly larger portion of the finance of higher education (Callan, 2001; Breneman, 20001. This shin in the burden of paying for higher The Knowledge Economy and Postsecondary Education: Report of a Workshop Chapter 4 104
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