Elements of Quality Online Education cation

IntroductionD. What do We Need to Learn About the Business of Education?Understanding the business of education means engaging constituents within and across institutions,according to Stephen Schiffman of the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. In “Business Issues inOnline Education,” Schiffman synthesizes wide-ranging information about business issues in onlineeducation drawn from interviews with more than fifty people working in the field of online education ateleven not-for-profit higher education institutions during the winter and spring of 2004. He finds thatthere is a thirst for knowledge about business models and proposes activities that will discover anddisseminate effective business strategies.In “The Business of Online Education—Are We Cost Competitive?” Rob Robinson of the University ofTexas Telecampus points out that “Properly designed and constructed, online courses, when compared totraditional face-to-face courses, can better engage learners, increase retention, improve student outcomes,and greatly increase access to higher education.” They can also cost less to develop and to deliver,although consensus about cost effectiveness has not yet emerged.Doug Lynch, formerly of New York University and now of the University of Pennsylvania, affirms in“Success Versus Value: What Do We Mean by the Business of Education?” that “There is a need, amarket, and a moral imperative to be entrepreneurial when it comes to developing and delivering onlineeducation.” Lynch gives entrepreneurial examples from NYU’s cooperative engagement with employersin which competitors find makes sense to cooperate.Noting that “many in the academy still cling to the notion that a university is not a business,” in“Reinventing the University: The Business of Online Education,” Tana Bishop of the University ofMaryland University College, calls for recognition that the 21 st century demands that schools demonstratequality and efficiency. Bishops says that “Colleges and universities have the unique opportunity toreinvent themselves by leveraging technologies to restructure old processes and breathe new life into theacademy.”Indeed, new life comes from engaging communities in improving education for greater access to learning.You are welcome to use this volume as a catalyst in your own communities. Sloan-C invite you to useSloan-C special interest groups, listserv, online workshops, conferences, effective practices, the Sloan-CView newsletter and the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks as channels for expanding theculture of learning.1. Allen, I. E. and J. Seaman. Entering the Mainstream: The Quality and Extent of Online Educationin the United States, 2003 and 2004. Needham, MA: Sloan-C, 2004. Online: http://www.sloanc.org/resources/survey.asp.2. Gomory, R. Sheffield Lecture- Yale University, January 11, 2000, Internet Learning: Is it Real andWhat Does it Mean for Universities? Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 5(1): June 2001.Online: http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/jaln/v5n1/v5n1_gomory.asp.3. Miller, Gary. Message to the Sloan-C listserv, August 1, 2004.10