SITE SEARCH
Breaking News
Online Degree Rankings
Best Buy Online Degrees
Best Buy Online Degrees
An online university degree can cost as little as $3,000 – or over $100,000. GetEducated's affordability rankings reveal who offers the best buys in online degrees.
 
Best Student Satisfaction
Best Student Satisfaction
Student in an online degree program? Alumni of an online college? Review – rate and rank – your college's performance. Your review will help others "get educated" about the real-life performance of accredited online colleges.
 
Best Public Perception
Best Public Perception
How do employers and the public rate online university degrees? Help rate and rank thousands of accredited distance colleges. Your online college reviews will help others "get educated"
 
Newsletter
Articles
 
Print E-mail
 
What is Hybrid or Blended Education?
Online Education Facts & Statistics  >  Distance Education Primer
By Vicky Phillips, Chief Education Analyst  |  January 14, 2009   
 
Distance learning started out as a way for older, non-traditional learners with access issues to receive instruction.
But, beginning in the late 1990s, younger students—call them the “Instant Education Generation”—unexpectedly began embracing distance learning.
The Instant Education Generation
Today’s traditional college students—aged 18 to 21 years old—have grown up with the convenience and instant gratification of the Internet. These students are arriving on campus demanding that the tools of distance education—videotaped lectures, virtual labs, computer conferencing, virtual advising—be offered to them as a way of making their educational experience more convenient.
Put another way, no 18-year-old freshman ever really wanted to get out of bed to attend an 8 a.m. philosophy lecture; now, with “smart classrooms”—lecture halls wired to videotape every chalk-stroke—“I’ll catch the course replay online” has become an acceptable campus mantra.

Even the most prestigious academic institutions, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, support websites that offer online archives of classroom lectures and course materials for enrolled students as well as the general public.

A new generation of college kids weaned on the I-Want-It-My-Way lure of the Internet are demanding the rapid development of a new (and much more convenient) higher education system.
The Future of All Higher Education is… Online
“Hybrid” and “blended learning” have become catchphrases for the Instant Education Generation. So what do they mean?
At many residential campuses, college courses are being taught both face-to-face and online simultaneously. Online learning is being “blended” with residential learning to achieve the best of all educational worlds: 365-24-7 access.
The line between “residential education” and “distance education” is blurring so rapidly that it is possible for students to be learning simultaneously from a chalkboard lecture and a YouTube learning lab.
According to Richard Voos, a professor at Babson College who specializes in researching educational technology trends: “Blended learning—a combination of face-to-face and online media, with ‘seat time’ significantly reduced—is an increasing proportion of instruction in U.S. higher education. Supplementing wholly face-to-face courses and wholly online asynchronous courses with technology is nearly ubiquitous.”
Though pioneered to serve students with geographic access issues—rural, remote and mobile learners—distance learning is rapidly being adopted by students who have another access issue: no time to commute to a campus and/or little willingness to attend class on a fixed—and often inconvenient—time schedule.
The Campus — Increasingly Optional
According to the Primary Research Group’s “2007-08 Survey of Distance Learning Programs in Higher Education,” more than 57 percent of online students live within 75 miles of the college that offers them the distance learning course.
These students could drive to a campus, if they wanted; increasingly, they are choosing not to be inconvenienced by the rigid structure of a traditional campus experience.
Colleges themselves are beginning to realize the importance of more flexible access to students. When the Sloan Foundation asked college administrators why they are offering more courses online, the majority cited “increased student access” as the number one reason for growing their distance learning divisions.
At the University of Nevada, where distance learning enrollments soared from a few hundred to more than 24,000 between 1998 and 2007, Judith Osterman, director of distance education, attributes the explosion of online education to the convenience factor.
Says Osterman: "It's a 24-hour town [Reno, Nevada], many students work [and] have family responsibilities. With distance education, there are no issues with family, travel [or] parking. The shift has been towards options … In reality, distance education is all about people's needs."

Like every institution, universities must evolve to meet the needs of successive generations. Today’s "college kids" are older, more mobile and more time-crazed than any generation that has preceded them.

It would be unrealistic to expect them to demand anything less than an education system that is available to them anytime and anywhere they need to learn.


Related Resources

What is Distance Learning?
Who Uses Distance Learning?
How Popular and Prevalent is Distance Learning?




© 2009 GetEducated.com, LLC

< Prev   Next >
 
 
Ask GetEducated!
Q I’m looking for an online MBA. I’ve found several that fit my budget but none are accredited by the AACSB. What is the AACSB? Do I really need a distance MBA degree that is accredited by them? —Roberta, Gary, IN
A The AACSB is the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. It is considered the gold standard of business school accreditation. But not every student needs an AACSB-accredited MBA...
Read More
Q I was laid off from my job as a real estate agent and want to be a high school math teacher, but my bachelor’s degree is in psychology. Do I need a new degree in education? Will an online bachelor’s in education qualify me to become a licensed teacher? —Willis, Houston, Texas
A If you didn’t earn a bachelor’s degree in education years ago and you now want to teach in the public schools, don’t fret. Every state maintains what are termed “alternative teacher certification” programs...
Read More
 
Featured University Ads
Northeastern University
Northeastern University, a world leader in practice-based education, is pleased to offer its MBA degree program in a convenient online format. As a student in the online MBA program, you will gain a solid foundation in all areas of business enterprise and be prepared to drive business growth in a global marketplace. Northeastern University is AACSB International accredited — this is the highest standard of accreditation for any business school worldwide.
Learn more
Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus
ASU offers a variety of high-quality, accredited online degree programs. With flexibility, convenience, and exemplary customer service, we help bring your goal of completing a degree within reach. Start today and take the next step toward furthering your career and enriching your life.
Learn more
Military Resource Center
For active-duty military, reservists, veterans, and military families.
More than half of military students use online education. What do you need to know to find schools that best fit your needs? How can you find the best financial aid and scholarship package at your online school? Answers are here.

Jobs and Careers in Online and Distance Education
Online and distance schools need teachers.
The field of online education is growing and so is the need for teachers who can teach online. Check out our regularly updated list of online job opportunities, post your job availability, and visit our Online Resource Center, with tips, advice and free downloads for online educators.

Online Education
 
Facebook Page: 102030281967 Twitter: GetEducatedcom YouTube: GetEducatedDotCom
GETV

Secure your career with an online MBA.

Facts from GetEducated's National Survey of Online MBAs. Who offers the cheapest online MBA? Do you need an AACSB-accredited distance MBA? Online MBA rankings and ratings. Everything you need to know to compare 390 accredited online MBAs from 168 online business schools.

Visit our Online MBA Career Center today

Learn more about in-demand and high-paying healthcare jobs - and online degrees that help you land them.

Visit our Healthcare & Nursing Career Center

From CSI to paralegal to forensic accountant, justice jobs are waiting for you.

Visit our Justice, Law & Legal Studies Career Center

What are the hottest careers in business and management, plus online degrees to help you succeed?

Visit our Business & Management Career Center

Move into a high-paying, fast-growing computer career by studying online.

Visit our Computers & IT Career Center today

Which are the best engineering or electronics jobs for you and how can online education help you prepare?

Visit our Engineering & Electronics Career Center

Teachers and librarians are needed for the future - prepare online for these careers.

Visit our Education & Library Science Career Center

You can learn online to be a social worker, counselor, or other human services professional.

Visit our Psychology & Human Services Career Center

Home | Articles | Media Coverage | About Us | News Releases | Privacy | Team Bios | History and Mission | Newsletter | Contact | Advertising | Login