Presentation by Tony Bates, EDEN Senior Fellow, EDEN Senior Fellow, at the 2019 European Distance Learning Week's second-day webinar on "What might the future hold for distance education universities?" - 12 November 2019 Recording of the discussion is available: https://eden-online.adobeconnect.com/pbph1w8fe5ec/ & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEKjFXUFvFY

1. OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING IN
NORTH AMERICA: THE END OF DTU’S?
Tony Bates

2. Strong growth in DE
• Annual surveys of online
and distance learning:
– USA: Babson/Dept. of
Education, from 2002
– Canada: CDLRA from 2017
• Strong growth in both
countries (regular
enrolments flat or
declining)
USA distance ed. enrolments

3. Canada: online/distance education offered
by nearly all institutions
• 83% ‘conventional’
universities/colleges offer DE
courses for credit
• Nearly all DE fully online
• 18% of students take at least
one online course
• 8% of all course registrations
• 68%: online very or extremely
important for future

4. Canada: DTUs struggling
Enrolments flat/declining at:
• Athabasca University
• Téluq (Québec)
• Cégep à distance (Québec)
• Thompson Rivers Open
Learning
• Royal Roads University
All face challenges (e.g. Laval)

5. USA: online/distance learning:
more students, more concentrated
• 33% students take at least one DE course
• 73% of enrolments in public/state institutions; 6% in for-
profit
• 5% of institutions account for 50% of all enrolments

6. Online learning becoming mainstream
Most Canadian institutions 15
years experience of fully online
Move to blended learning
• Flipped classrooms
• New designs: active
classrooms
• Games/simulations/VR
Learning technology centres:
learning design + technology
Queen’s University active classroom

7. Issues with online learning at conventional
universities
73% institutions reported
inadequate training for faculty
Use of video lectures: too easy for
untrained faculty = poor design
• too much content;
• not enough student activity
• inadequate feedback
Scaling up training when ALL
teaching is blended

8. How DTUs can win
build at scale without loss of quality:
• better designs for online learning - designs that develop
knowledge and skills needed in a digital age
• better (world class) student support; active learning;
quality feedback; really personal
• intelligent use of AI that embeds learning theories and
scales best teaching practices
• appropriate educational use of advanced digital
technologies (games, simulations, VR) at scale

9. Questions/discussion
• DTUs have a different market - so why worry?
• DTUs should do what they do now – only better.
• DTUs need to change radically if they are to survive
• Conventional universities are doomed: DTUs are the
future!
• North America is different from Europe: so .....
What do YOU think?