What are the issues?
August 26, 2008 by John St.Clair · 2 Comments
In Asking the Really Tough Questions: Policy Issues for Distance Learning, Barbara Gellman-Danley and Marie J. Fetzner organize issues related to distance education into seven areas each with a list of key issues (http://www.westga.edu/~distance/danley11.html). Their document was published in 1998 but continues to be an excellent framework.
| Policy Development Area | Key Issues |
| 1) Academic |
Academic calendar, course integrity, transferability, transcripts, evaluation process, admission standards, curriculum approval process, accreditation |
|
2) Fiscal |
Tuition rate, technology fee, FTE’s, consortia contracts, state fiscal regulations |
|
3) Geographic |
Service Area Regional limitations, local versus out-of-state tuition, consortia agreements |
|
4) Governance |
Single versus multiple board oversight, staffing, existing structure versus shadow colleges or enclaves |
|
5) Labor-Management |
Compensation and workload, development incentives, intellectual property, faculty training, congruence with existing union contracts |
|
6) Legal |
Fair use, copyright, faculty, student and institutional liability |
|
7) Student Support Services |
Advisement, counseling, library access, materials delivery, student training, test proctoring |
In chapter eight of the second edition (2005) of Distance Education: A Systems View, Moore and Kearsley address issues of policy in strategic planning, staffing, learner support, libraries, budgeting, quality assessment, the digital divide, and accreditation. As they note, even in 2005 policy barriers to implementation of distance learning activities were falling at the institutional, regional, state, and national levels.
Are there other issues than those listed above?
