A. Framework

In this report the term "distance learning" only refers to Internet-based courses that are 100 percent online; it does not cover courses that are "blended" or "enhanced"; and it only covers courses delivered via the Internet as opposed to videotapes, television, correspondence, etc.

Distance learning has (at least) three components: course management systems, courses, and instructors. Fifteen years ago, colleges and universities intending to offer distance learning courses via the Internet had to build everything themselves. Today these components can be purchased from vendors or can be obtained from other academic institutions.

B. Achievements and Shortfalls

Distance learning is hard: it's hard for faculty to implement; its current formats are not suitable for all students; and it's hard for administrators to fund. Nevertheless, HBCUs have achieved much to be proud of in their implementation of distance learning programs.

However this report finds that progress has been achieved in spite of the fact that most HBCUs tend to ask their faculties build too many components themselves. This strategy has not proven to be cost-effective. Less than one third of all HBCUs are currently offering any courses that are 100 percent online; and none of these HBCUs offer more than 5 percent of their courses online. Therefore the report encourages HBCUs to require their faculty to build fewer components and encourages the HBCUs to acquire more components from vendors and/or from other colleges and universities.

C. Recommendations

The following recommendations are designed to encourage HBCUs to use more components and to outsource more courses in their distance learning programs:

#1 -- Partner with vendors who provide turnkey courses hosted on the vendors' servers for workforce retraining programs.

#2 -- Become active participants in existing online/distance learning consortiums in order to increase the potential pool of students for their own courses and to provide their own students with access to a wider range of courses offered by other member of the consortiums.

#3 -- Form "consortium" partnerships with other colleges to provide faculty with access to online course components developed by other members of the consortium.

#4 -- Form "consortium" partnerships with other colleges to receive volume discounts from vendors for CMS platform licenses and to receive volume discounts from consultants for online course conversion & development.

#5 -- For new online courses, consider hiring telecommuting adjunct faculty who are subject matter experts AND who have experience with the HBCU's chosen course management system (CMS).

#6 -- Hire consultant/developer firms to convert existing traditional course materials into online formats and to develop new online courses; alternatively, an HBCU could hire a team of full-time consultant/developers to perform these course conversion and course creation tasks.

#7 -- Use "cartridges" produced by textbook publishers for online courses.

#8 -- Hire consultant/developer firms to help develop courses for export into the rapidly expanding global market for distance learning, especially courses having distinctly "black" content. "Black is beautiful" ==> courses having Black content have global appeal, e.g., Black History, Black Literature, Black Music, etc.

#9 -- Keep up with the latest developments in distance learning by becoming active members of the national and international organizations that have significant influence on distance learning technologies, e.g., Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), EDUCAUSE, the IMS Global Learning Consortium, the Sakai Educational Partners Program (SEPP), and the Sloan Consortium.

#10 -- Consider adopting an open source CMS, at least for limited groups of courses.