intro

Introduction

The opportunity to consider distance learning techniques to supplement the University’s traditional approach to educating students appeared both enormously important and deceptively simple when this committee began its work in fall 1996. The institution’s educational programs and its information technology infrastructure were already highly regarded, enrollment was growing, and committee member John Aram had conducted a preliminary scan of the topic in the previous year.

Many months later, the committee has come to understand that examining the manner in which learning does or might take place is no less important a task than it seemed earlier, but is a much more complex and comprehensive assignment than could have been imagined. In the course of the committee’s work, we found ourselves challenging — or at least looking differently at — long-standing assumptions at this and other universities about such matters as the roles and expectations of faculty and students, academic calendars, tuition and fees, the balance between teaching and research performance in evaluating faculty members, etc. In fact, this examination of distance learning at CWRU has approximated a complete review of the University’s operations.

We are not alone in considering these issues to be fundamental to higher education. Reflecting upon the evolution of learning in a networked world, author Peter J. Denning actually referred whimsically to research conducted on this very campus in 1887 — the Michelson-Morley experiments, which concluded that light waves did not have to pass through a sea of ether in which the planets floated, as was previously believed. Drawing a parallel with the impact of the 1887 experiments, which provided the basis for Einstein’s later general theory of relativity, Denning observed that networked learning demonstrates that knowledge does not rely on a “sea” of information, but rests instead on involvement with other people — which he called “people relativity.”

As this citation suggests, much of the rhetoric concerning distance learning takes on apocalyptic dimensions. While generally agreeing that distance learning holds the potential ultimately — and profoundly — to affect many aspects of higher education, the committee also concluded that an alarmist tone would be inappropriate. Rather, we recommend a reasoned, measured path of action, including structure that will provide leadership and a vehicle for investment, innovation that will strengthen course offerings, and experimentation that will lead to better information for making subsequent choices. At the same time, we suggest that program planning, which takes place primarily within the University’s academic units, will be most effective as it becomes more integrated across disciplines and adopts a more “learner-centered” approach, i.e., sets the student’s learning objectives at the center of the planning process.

The rationale for the overall thrust of our recommendations reflects the language of our original charge: “Long-term demographic trends, the changing nature of work, and advances in information technology together present important opportunities for innovative approaches to learning at all levels.” The importance of these matters grows steadily, propelled by two factors, one external and the other internal:

It is already apparent in most fields of study that overcoming the traditional limitations of place and time holds enormous promise to improve the learning process — if only as a supplement to more traditional instructional approaches. This report includes many examples of just such activities at CWRU, and it alludes to many elsewhere. Whether linking local students with distant resources, or distant students with local resources, the benefits are real.
Where promise and opportunity are apparent, competition will not be far behind. Because information technology makes access to a wide range of learning resources ubiquitous, organizations — including many that would not fit the standard definition of a college or university — can use these techniques to reach students virtually anywhere. Our current and prospective students have many more options than before, and Case Western Reserve has an opportunity to strengthen its position in a highly competitive market.

The late Robert F. Kennedy, speaking more than three decades ago about other phenomena, observed: “A revolution is coming .. whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.” Our objective is to help Case Western Reserve University shape the character of a revolution in learning — both distant and proximate — that has already begun here and elsewhere. This is an exciting moment, and we appreciate having been asked to play a special role in it.

University Committee on Distance Learning
Case Western Reserve University

April 1998

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