Technology-Based Learning Strategies Report - APEC HRDWG Wiki

B. OverviewDevelopment Costs: Another disadvantage of technology-based learning is high upfrontdevelopment costs, which can require a significant investment. For example, Pace Universityestimated that they lost over $46,000 during their first year of offering technology-based learningprograms, because they spent so many hours developing the materials and so few studentsenrolled in the course. However, they expect that by the end of the second year they will realizea slight profit, compensating for their high initial investment. 23 Thereafter, they expect tocontinue to profit from the course with relatively little additional investment.Lack of Credibility: Lastly, TBL degree programs still lack the level of credibility oftraditional degree programs. For example, a survey administered to hiring committees of 60higher education institutions found that respondents preferred to hire applicants who received adegree from a traditional institution to those with a degree from distance education institutions.Additionally, some respondents were even wary of hiring applicants who took some coursesonline at a traditional institution. In general, they were concerned that TBL is more susceptibleto cheating and poor quality than traditional face-to-face and classroom-based training. 242324Carr, 2001.Adams and DeFleur, 2005.11