Show me the money: Shifting legislative conversations about the cost of distance education

October 4, 2019.Reading time 12 minutes.

Online education can often be polarizing—some advocates champion it as higher education’s savior, bringing access and affordability to students across the globe. Others see it as the modern equivalent of a Trojan horse come to assault the quality of higher education. Questions of the quality of online education aside, one of the biggest lightening rods […]

Let the DATA drive: Washington community & technical college’s journey to establish OER and Low-Cost codes

March 21, 2019.Reading time 9 minutes.

In this blog, Mark Jenkins and Boyoung Chae detail the vital benefits of using a data-driven approach in OER initiatives to promote affordability and student success for Washington’s Community and Technical Colleges. Their approach helped to meet two important goals: Meet students’ needs for learning which courses use free or “low-cost” resources, which aids them […]

Regional Collaboration in Promoting OER Adoption

December 12, 2018.Reading time 15 minutes.

Today WCET Frontiers is excited to showcase the recent Open Educational Resources (OER) Implementation and Policy Summit for the MHEC States. This multi-state OER meeting brought together OER advocates from across campuses, legislatures, faculty, students, and more to collaboratively learn about OER and OER expansion for their states. To give us a review of this […]

Expanding the OER Research Horizon – the OER Research Fellowship

September 25, 2018.Reading time 15 minutes.

If you celebrated a recent large-scale study at the University of Georgia showing Open Educational Resource’s (OER) positive impact on student outcomes, you’ll be excited to know that there are many other articles on the topic of OER efficacy and affordability thanks to John Hilton III and the OER Research Fellows. This week’s Frontier’s blog […]

Open Textbooks and OER in Colorado: Lots of Interest and Great Promise

February 9, 2018.Reading time 12 minutes.

image of quote: {“Use of OER is a very clear strategy to speak to two very important concerns/barriers to education for today's learner populations: cost and convenience. Judiciously applying OER to these two critical decision-making issues can lower the barriers for a wide variety of students.” Mike Abbiatti, Exec Director of WCET

This week on WCET Frontiers Blog, Tanya Spilovoy, Ed. D., Director of Open Policy for WCET, discusses the outcomes of the Colorado Open Educational Resources (OER) Council recent work in open textbook initiatives, her research and consulting role with WCET, and how OER can be leveraged to meet state higher education goals. WCET is thrilled […]

Distance Ed Growth – Access is a Big Motivator, But It’s Complicated

February 1, 2018.Reading time 23 minutes.

Graph of answers to question "growth in stduents studying completely at a distance." Expense of F2F enrollments (33.3%), does not affect F2F enrollments as distance students do not come to campus (45.8%), is primarily focused on + funding over serving new students (19.3%), is primarily focused on serving new students over + funding (27.1%), is leading to more blended/hybrid options (64.6%)

Distance education enrollment data continue to show growth. But, we wondered why. Is the motivation to serve more students, to make money, both, neither, or a complex set of other issues? We had heard many theories, often delivered with absolute certainty, but little proof. One of the reasons I wanted to ask these questions was […]

Distance Ed Costs and Price: Not as Closely Correlated as You’d Think

February 16, 2017.Reading time 10 minutes.

What do you know about the price and cost of distance education? What do we charge students (the “price”)? How much does the institution spend to create the course (the “cost”)? In order to learn more about this issue, WCET conducted a survey with colleges and university leaders regarding the price and cost of distance […]

North Dakota Open Educational Resources Initiative: A System-wide Success Story

August 23, 2016.Reading time 24 minutes.

Overview The North Dakota University System Open Educational Resources Initiative is a 3-phased plan hinging upon a unique collaboration among the North Dakota legislature, the University System Office, and the faculty at public institutions across the state. At the intersection of these three entities are change leaders who have come together for a common goal […]

What Colleges Should Be Doing with Open Educational Resources, At Scale!

February 26, 2016.Reading time 10 minutes.

Today we’re honored to welcome TJ Bliss, Program Officer, Education at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to share with us the learning the Foundation has garnered in over 15 years of supporting open educational resource projects. Thank you, TJ for sharing how to scale OER with your cooperative! The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation […]

Help Guide the Conversation about the Price and Cost of Distance Courses

February 23, 2016.Reading time 5 minutes.

We need your help in providing data – WCET is currently conducting a survey on the price and cost of distance education. But before we get to the survey completion plea, some background… How Are You Saving Money Using Technology? In the ancient days of distance education, back before online courses, I ran a two-way […]