Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2014 | Page 36

Positioning for Success in the Higher Education Online Learning Environment
dia Limited, which publishes the
Hindustan Times, Hindustan and
Mint newspapers in India, created
a joint 50/50 partnership, India
Education Services Private Ltd., to
develop educational content and
expand corporate education. The
partnership in 2013 opened the
Bridge School of Management that
is currently offering an 11-month
post-graduate blended program in
management.
• International companies are also
seeking appropriate online learning
from U.S.-based colleges and
universities to assist in employee
education and training. This is
especially true in some countries,
such as India where the disparity
between the pool of qualified college
graduates and employer needs
is so stark that companies help educate
a large section of the workforce.
Framing Success
The online education landscape of today
offers the promise of enhanced
student learning and the opportunity
for institutions to expand their horizons,
providing greater access and enhanced efficiencies.
It also offers the potential peril that
without a clear strategy, some institutions
may be among those left aside as Clayton
Christensen has projected. Colleges and
universities, through differentiation, articulating
a deep understanding of what they
want to achieve through online learning,
incorporating some of the principles and
practices previously described, and defining
success on their terms, can not only
find their footing on the landscape, but also
thrive.
The decisions about how to go online
and what is the primary institutional
driver are unique to each college and university,
and on many campuses, each department.
The following general questions,
which are by no means exhaustive, can
help your campus begin to frame its online
learning approach.
• Why do you want to go online?
• How does your purpose for online
learning align with your institutional
mission and vision?
• Where do you see your online learning
program in five years?
• Whom are you trying to serve with online
learning?
• How will you measure success? What
tools will you use to track your progress?
To whom will you report your
outcomes?
• Is the cost of going online worth the
benefit?
• What happens if you do not go online?
• Who is going to lead the initiative?
• What resources (human, technology,
infrastructure, financial) do you have?
What resources will you need?
• Should you build your online capacity
in-house or seek partners? What criteria
will you use for partners?
• What do your students think of online
learning? What supports will you have
in place for them so that they can succeed?
• Who are the faculty champions who
are willing to work in online learning?
What are their motivations for doing
it? How can they be best supported and
what training will be put in place?
• What content do you want to make
available (courses, certificates, degrees,
credit/non-credit)? What programs
should you consider to deliver online?
What are going to be your standards for
online learning quality?
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