Is Distance Learning for “Non-Traditional Students” Accessible?

Traditionally, institutions of higher education were made for the elite and prosperous citizen. Classrooms were formal, with a clear hierarchy. Instructors held formal classes with face-to-face interaction and employed the Socratic method of questions and answers to impart wisdom and enlightenment. This all changed after World War II and with the introduction of the GI Bill, which allowed the masses an opportunity for a higher education. Community colleges grew in response to the need of educating the working class, and students fled to these institutions in record numbers.

Although still focused on educating the traditional student - that is, students who were mostly white male, between the ages of 18-23, single, affluent and enrolled full time, institutions adjusted and changed to fit the needs of its students. Today’s collegiate students are anything but traditional. Faced with increased enrollments and decreasing budgets, schools implemented cost-saving measures and developed on-line courses to meet these challenges of these “non-traditional students”, or face extinctions. Once accepted, these new programs were praised for their power to provide educational opportunities to those who previously might not have been able to attend. (Dare 2011), however, closer examination reveals that this may not be the case.

What was once considered a non-traditional student, that is, female, part-time, first generation, working adult older than 25 years of age with dependants, is now the norm. (Dare 2011) According to Poley (2008) Minorities now comprise twenty-eight percent of college students. She further states that “fifty-eight percent of bachelor’s degree recipients attend two or more colleges. Twenty-eight percent of undergraduates attend part-time and seventy-three percent are non-traditional students.” David Staley and Dennis Trinkle (2011) note in their findings that “Sixty percent of students are over the age of 25 and sixty percent are working full time while in the pursuit of a degree.” Similar demographics were reported by the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus where twenty-two percent of the students are minorities, over seventy percent are employed full-time, and the average age is 28 years old. (USF System Fact Book 2010/11).

Education is vital to both this nation’s democracy and its prosperity. President Barak Obama in his address to Congress on February 24, 2009, called for the nation “to lead the world in the proportion of college graduates by the year 2020.” In order to achieve this mandate and thrive in this changing and global world, it will be necessary to increase accessibility and to provide an educational system that is both “engaging and empowering” to all learners. (Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology 2010)

The plan calls for applying educational technologies, and teaching and learning strategies that meet the needs of today’s learners. Undergraduate education is different than it was twenty years ago. The 2011 incoming class (“millennials”) are the first generation of college students to live in a techno-induced world filled with u-tube, podcasts, text & instant messaging, cell phones, and virtual worlds. They grew up on the internet. The abundance of resources available is challenging educators to rethink how they approach teaching. Students must be critical thinkers and partners in their learning experience. Education must learn new ways of utilizing transformational approaches to teaching these millennials whiles simultaneously paying attention to the needs of the now majority, non-traditional students (Generation Y).

These new generations of students expect to “learn, work & study whenever and wherever they want to” (Horizons Report 2010) this coupled with the need “to control cost while providing a high quality of service” has resulted in the explosion of on-line and blended-course instruction. However, it is not enough to just provide students with a computer and access to the internet. Technology advances at an exponential pace and the key is to ensure that distant learning is an effective application of this technology. (Barshay 2011)

Mayadas, Bourne and Bacsich (2009) asked two questions. Are the several million students satisfied with their on-line experience and have they had a high-quality experience? They found that similar that there was no difference in the experiences between on-line and traditional setting. However, in another study conducted by Columbia University, they found that Community College students enrolled in on-line education were more likely to drop out of the course than those enrolled in a face-to-face instruction. They erroneously concluded “on-line learning is not the best model for students who desire lower prices and flexibility” (Lenz 2010) This may have been due to other issues such as self-efficacy and/or variance in instructors teaching skills, experience, course organization or study material.

Society needs more educated citizens and business need more trained workers. On-line and blended learning courses have made learning more accessible, however, the cost of these benefits are increasing being born by the individual student. A more careful analysis of students’ ability to purchase computers and pay for the internet must be explored to determine if distant learning is truly accessible to all learners. Borrowing from the title -“If education is considered a “right” and distant learning is the answer, then who pays?” (Meyer 2010).
 

References


2010 Horizon Report:

Barshay, Jill, “Q&A with former Gov. Bob Wise: What will a “digital” school look like in 5 years?” The Hechinger Report, August 28, 2011,

Dare, Alexa, “(Dis)Embodied Difference in the Online Class: Vulnerability, Visibility, and Social Justice”, MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching Vol. 7, No. 2, June 2011,

Lenz, Sara, “Online learning: Wave of the future or demise of the academy” The Innovative University – Changing the DNA of Higher Education. 2011

Mayadas, A. Frank; Bourne, John; Bacsich, Paul, “Online Education Today”, Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, v13 n2 p49-56 Aug 2009

Poley, Dr. Janet K., “Asynchronous Learning Networks: Policy Implications for Minority Serving Institutions and for Leaders Addressing Needs of Minority Learners” Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Volume 12: Issue 2, July 2008,

Stanley, David J. and Trinkle, Dennis A, “The Changing Landscape of Higher Education,” Educause Review, vol. 46, no. 1 (January/February 2011): 16 – 33

U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology (OET): “Transforming America in Education: Learning Powered by Technology”

“USF System Fact Book 2010/11”,