Book Reviews
Expanding Access to Learning: The Role of Virtual Universities
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The sixth in the series of the Pew Symposia of national conversations about
learning and technology convened in July 2002 with leaders of state-based
virtual university consortia (VUC) and of campus-based online initiatives,
of people experienced in both, and of noted thinkers on the topic. The goal
was to answer the questions:
What have we learned thus far about the advantages and disadvantages of
VUC organizational models?
What business models work best?
What are the political and policy obstacles that must be overcome in order
for a virtual university effort to succeed?
Are there potentially more-effective e models in addition to those already
in existence? (p.2)
Expanding Access to Learning is an analysis of these issues. Beginning
with an analysis of the collaborative model, Twigg points out that a watershed
moment occurred in 1996 with the establishment of Western Governors University
(WGU) with the support of 18 western governors. WGU and the rapid growth
of the University of Phoenix, "made every state take a long hard look at
the stand-alone model," and decided that a model of collaboration among already
existing programs would meet state needs "without competing head-to-head
with existing institutions." Yet,
The assumption that a collaborative model will get you where you want to
go is totally unsubstantiated. Collaboration is an extremely difficult thing
to accomplish in higher education, just as it is in the world of business.
Unfortunately, there are precious few examples of success in either, especially
in relation to the number of collaborations that have been attempted. A scan
of degree programs offered via VUCs reveals that no more than a handful of
collaborative programs exist and that those that do have been incredibly
time-consuming and slow to develop. As one participant put it, the cultural
differences among U.S. institutions are so great that the "friction
levels" do not go down very rapidly. (p.7)
Identifying a range of importance in the 12 top
drivers across the 14 leading VUCs, Twigg observes: "In the case of VUCs,
collaboration seems to be the answer no matter what the problem happens to
be." What better models might there be?
"More-focused, more-learner-centered, and more
entrepreneurial approaches" that reject the collaborative model describe
VUCs that are making more rapid progress in meeting states' needs:
1. Keep your focus on increasing access for new
students (rather than on supporting institutions).
2. Find out what students and states need, and
create a mechanism to respond (rather than aggregating what institutions
have to offer).
3. Leave the resolution of long-standing higher
education policy issues to state policy makers (rather than trying to solve
them in the VUC).
4. Create a business plan for self-supporting
sustainability (rather than relying on state allocations).
5. Use a cost-effective development and delivery
model (rather than a bolt-on model).
Expanding Access to Learning presents
an alternative model (originally developed by Robert Albrecht, George Connick,
Robert C. Heterick Jr., and Carol A. Twigg in consultation to the Electronic
Campus of Virginia) called Statewide Educational Ventures (SEV). The SEV
model emphasizes institutional autonomy rather than collaboration by contracting
for and seed-funding the development of full programs for unmet state needs. RFPs
would include specific requirements for admissions and liberal transferability
of prior credit, plan for effectiveness assessment of the program, cost-effectiveness
and future self-sustainability, enrollment flexibility, marketing, student
services, and technology (with a bias towards programs that are web-based,
asynchronous, and highly interactive). With details about start-up costs,
business model structure and staffing, and partners (businesses, local communities,
and granting agencies) of SEVs, the model "can aid each state in increasing
the capacity of state academic institutions to serve the state's citizens."
Case studies of VUCs illustrate successes and
barriers to success in seven states, and Twigg comments that:
As virtual university consortia (VUCs) have grown, the more successful of
them have abandoned the every-faculty-member-for-himself approach in favor
of centrally designing courses that are then taught by multiple instructors.
Designing online courses via a build-it-once, use-it-often approach dramatically
reduces the costs of development for online instruction, especially when
the instructors are adjunct faculty.
Four basic design strategies can be used in various
combinations:
1. Combine multiple sections of a course into
one large section.
2. Emphasize student-to-student interaction and
teaming.
3. Automate grading and student feedback whenever
possible.
4. Use a differentiated personnel strategy.
Nearly every state has some kind of consortial
effort to establish an accessible, affordable system of higher education
for its citizens. Like its precedents, Expanding Access to Learning is
incisive, achieving its mission for the greater good:
Many constituencies bring self-interested agendas
to discussions about technology: administrators worry about facing competitors;
faculty worry about keeping jobs; and vendors worry about selling particular
hardware and software. So too do different segments of the higher education
community bring competing agendas that often reflect political considerations
first and quality concerns second. The Pew Symposia are intended to produce
thoughtful analyses and discussions that serve the larger good. Please let
us know whether we have met that goal. (p. 4).
Like the first five influential Pew Symposia
reports, Expanding Access to Learning is a model of clear-thinking,
a generous resource for rebuilding higher education.
Carol A. Twigg. Expanding Access to Learning: The Role of Virtual
Universities. Center for Academic Transformation. http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewSym/mono6.html
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