Some Influences of On-line Distance Learning on US Higher Education

Distance education issues affect nearly all participants in higher education, whether or not they are planning to offer (or to take) on-line courses. These issues are affecting business-university interactions as well as the relationship between faculty mem bers and their institutions. This article discusses an assortment of concerns in the USA and many other Western nations related to the nexus between on-line distance education and the traditional classroom, including intellectual property, evaluation and equity. These matters are being heavily influenced by the emerging international market for higher education offerings and by heightened competition from for-profit institutions. Discourse on distance education issues is likely to stimulate thinking about the nature of higher education, especially on the part of students who are being presented with an increasing array of educational options. Faculty members are facing issues of critical importance (especially in the realm of intellectual property rights), issues that will shape the nature of higher education as an entity.