United States Distance Learning Association

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SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE Barriers and the Organization’s Capabilities for Distance Education Zane L. Berge Zane L. Berge, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore MD 21250. E-mail: berge@umbc.edu INTRODUCTION It is clear that changes in society and the marketplace demand changes in the workplace, including a shift in the focus of distance training and education from instructing to learning. What is not as clear to most people is that, to develop enterprise-wide capabilities for sustaining distance training and education, it takes continuous effort to link project management, program management, change management, and strategic planning (Benninck, 2004; Berge & Smith, 2000; Dobbins & Berge, 2006). It is also important to realize that these changes affect the expectations, roles, and responsibilities of instructors, learners, and managers as the organization builds capacity for technologically enhanced learning of mission-critical problems. Persons beginning a professional career in any complex area that is new to them face a large number of barriers—both perceived and real (Berge, 2004). This is true of distance education, and it is especially true when the individual’s organization is at a low stage of maturity or capabilities regarding distance education. My purpose here is to present a framework for distance education linking several perspectives within an organization. It is important to place this framework within a broader context, making explicit the more salient factors, barriers, and assumptions that drive the design of this model. Part of this is to identify shifts in the economy that act as a catalyst for new roles, responsibilities, and expectations of instructors and learners that are concomitant with the changes in the economy. This article reviews some of the work my students, colleagues, and I have done over the past decade and a half Volume 4, Issue 4 Distance Learning 1
concerning barriers to elearning and a few recommendations to help ameliorate them. DISTANCE TRAINING IN THE WORKPLACE Managers in organizations are usually effective at managing projects and programs. Additionally, in successful enterprises, much of the overall strategic level planning is well done. However, what I have suggested is that there are stages or levels of technological capability within the organization with regard to technology-enhanced learning and distance education (Berge, 2001b; Schreiber & Berge, 1998). Once managers become aware of these levels of technological maturity, and aware of the relationship among project management, program management, and strategic planning, a better understanding may be gained concerning the need for change management to link these elements. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY The same technologies that are fueling changes in the global economy and driving the growth of what is called the learning organization are also fueling the need for lifelong education for both organizations and individuals. Not surprisingly, this trend is also transforming how we deliver training in the workplace (Bachman, 2000; Moe, Bailey, & Lau, 1999). Technologybased learning and distance training can help to solve business problems. Trainingat-a-distance can improve the quality of learning and worker performance in an organization in a cost effective way while taking advantage of opportunities to increase competitive advantage in the marketplace. The power of training-at-a-distance is in its use of models different from the traditional approach to training. This traditional approach usually involves a “stand and deliver,” in-person presentation by a trainer, who is located in the same physical space as the trainees. With elearning, adult learning principles are often used to design and develop an active, authentic problem-solving learning environment that often focuses on collaboration and teamwork. WHY ALL THE FUSS Why all the fuss Why should changing culture, economic conditions, and theoretical stances influence the way education and training occur Specifically, why change how training is done and why do so now In today’s economic climate incremental improvements are often not enough. Significant changes within an organization ultimately come when the chief executive officer feels enough pain. Such pain can come from several sources: external mandates, often from government; corporate mergers; economic competition; and self-awareness/education regarding how organization can better meet goals (Berge, 2001a). Simply put, for companies and corporations to remain viable and profitable, the marketplace will not allow “business as usual” with regard to talent management. It is possible to significantly improve much of the training and education that is done by using a learner-centered, collaborative, social, constructivist approach. To do this can mean improvement in performance and employee competencies on an order of magnitude that exceeds what can be achieved by didactic methods. It is this order of magnitude change in the workplace that necessitates changes to the expectations, roles, and responsibilities of instructors, students, and managers as the organization builds capacity for technologically enhanced learning of mission-critical problems. Technology is a catalyst for change in society, the marketplace economy, and a cause for changing how training must occur. 2 Distance Learning Volume 4, Issue 4
Page 2 and 3: DISTANCE LEARNING FEATURED ARTICLES
Page 4 and 5: DISTANCE LEARNING MAGAZINE SPONSORE
Page 8 and 9: THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW ECONOMY A de
Page 10 and 11: Table 4. Rank Order of the 10 Facto
Page 12 and 13: ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVE STRATEGI
Page 14 and 15: Table 5. Solutions to Barriers to D
Page 16 and 17: Table 5. Continued Social Interacti
Page 18 and 19: management. In L. Lau (Ed.) Distanc
Page 20 and 21: compensation, incentives and releas
Page 22 and 23: Pedagogy --Course Development --Cou
Page 24 and 25: Quality in Distance Education A Tri
Page 26 and 27: ability to understand and apply tec
Page 28 and 29: CONSTITUENCIES IN DISTANCE EDUCATIO
Page 30 and 31: control and responsibility for the
Page 32 and 33: Kirtley, K. E. (2002). A study of s
Page 34 and 35: Distance Education in the Public Hi
Page 36 and 37: distance education courses and Inte
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Page 40 and 41: Using IT-Based Distance Education f
Page 42 and 43: to participate and share and exchan
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Page 46 and 47: Online High School Courses Preventi
Page 48 and 49: students. Fourth, a program that in
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own graduate experience as being fa
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tional delivery. The knowledge that
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APPENDIX B: WIMBA LIVE CLASSROOM IN
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Access to College for Nontraditiona
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coast through by quietly sitting in
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institutions. According to Shanika,
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Distance Education at the Universit
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Figure 1. UF/IFAS IT’s relationsh
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Figure 2. IFAS 2005-06 operating bu
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ida Division of Continuing Educatio
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Institute of Food and Agricultural
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Learning Objects What Are They, and
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Table 1. Goals of Learning Object D
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easoning as to how they are built,
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INTERVIEW The Perils and Promise of
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4. Limiting the enrollment in dista
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esponsibility to make sure that thi
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ence since it did not figure in the
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INTERVIEW Here Come the Marines! An
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demonstrate, within a set of proced
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and this is significant, the Corps
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Ends and Means Developing a Digital
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artifacts one wants to include in t
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New Media, New Learning School for
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And Finally … continued from page
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United States Distance Learning Association

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