Distance Education Models and Best Practices

ACADEMY ADMINISTRATION PRACTICEJUNE 2011Next, we take a closer look at two of the principles listed above that are notablyintegral to ensuring the financial sustainability of distance programs: “Knowing yourcosts” and “Determining a price.”Program CostsIt is imperative to have an accurate understanding of the current costs of a distanceeducation program so that reasonable projections of future costs can be established.As a distance program grows, all other operations must scale along with it. Thisincludes faculty, materials, registration, support staff, and course quality. 52Programs must be careful to accurately estimate the costs of developing an onlinecourse. Underestimation can jeopardize the long-term growth of a program or evencompromise its sustainability. Important factors that affect the costs of an onlineprogram include the choice of media and technology, materials and equipment,staffing costs, and course design and production expenses, including timemanagement, resource assignment, formative evaluation, and quality control. 53There are a number of commercial off-the-shelf cost estimation tools available, butthere is a notable lack of publicly available information about best practices for costestimates. The Center for Learning Technologies at Old Dominion University(ODU) developed a “web-based cost estimation program based on expert evaluationsand…years of experience in designing hybrid, synchronous, asynchronous, CD-ROM, two-way video, and online courses.” 54ODU’s Asynchronous Cost Model (ACM) is intended to help instructors andprograms by establishing a framework (through an interactive spreadsheet) for costestimation. 55 According to Stuart, He, and Abdou, the categories covered by theACM include:Instructional design, interface, text, graphics (clean presentation, graphic library, andoriginal artwork), photographs, animation (Flash/2-D, 3-D and simulation), audio(background, voiceover, sound effects, and transcription), video (encoding forstreaming, studio/post, and location/post), assessment, learning managementsystems (LMS), and deliverables (VHS tape, CD-ROM and DVD-ROM). 5652 Hill, Melanie and Matthew Clay. “Growth Management in Distance Education: How to Expand Your DistanceOfferings.” Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. Vol. 1. No. 4. Winter 1998. p. 2.www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring21/hill21.pdf53 Gordon, Stuart, Wu He, and M’hammed Abdou. “Using a Web-based System to Estimate the Cost of OnlineCourse Production.” Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. Vol. 12. No. 3. Fall 2009. p.1.www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall123/gordon123.pdf54 Ibid.55 The Asynchronous Cost Model is available online at preweb.clt.odu.edu/cost56 Ibid., pp. 1-2.© 2011 Hanover Research ‐ Academy Administration Practice36