A. Previous
DLL HBCU Distance Learning Reports
This report is the second
attempt by the Digital Learning Lab (DLL) to analyze the distance
learning initiatives launched by HBCUs. The first was produced
in two parts:
The December 2005 report found that only a small
number of HBCUs that were offering online courses and an even smaller
number enabled students to complete all degree requirements via
online courses. It concluded that HBCUs might be directing too
large a portion of their limited resources to developing all of
the distance learning components themselves. They might
be more successful if they obtained course components from outside
sources via participation in consortia or in partnerships with
other colleges and universities.
The April 2006 report considered the possibility
of HBCUs entering into partnerships with some of the most successful
for-profit providers of online education services. It also presented
data that indicated that a surprisingly large number of African
American students were already enrolled in online degree programs
offered by these for-profit operations.
Although the present report updates the findings
from the DLL's previous reports, its structure and content
have been designed to place its findings in the broader context
of the findings obtained from the distance learning surveys
conducted by the Sloan Consortium
B. The Sloan Consortium's Annual Surveys
Every year since 2002 the Sloan
Consortium (a/k/a "Sloan-C") has conducted
annual nationwide surveys of the chief academic officers of over
2200 American colleges and universities. Each survey's basic purpose
is to determine how many students are taking online courses and
to elicit the opinions of the chief
academic officers about a wide range of issues, including: the
receptivity of online courses by their faculty,
the quality of their online courses, and the impediments to expanding
their online course offerings. Each year's responses are compared
to the responses from previous years. Sloan-C published
the results of their most recent surveys -- Growing
by Degrees: Online Education in the United States, 2005 Making
the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006 in
the Fall of 2005 and 2006, respectively.
Discussions between the DLL and Sloan-C during the
Summer of 2006 resulted in an agreement that Sloan-C would conduct
a special analysis of its most recent survey from
participating HBCUs so that the DLL could then
produce a report that combined Sloan-C's findings with insights
the DLL derived from the descriptions of distance learning
programs posted on HBCU Websites. Unfortunately, not enough HBCUs
responded to the most recent Sloan-C survey to enable the Sloan-C
to perform its special analysis.
Accordingly, the DLL decided to do the next best
thing by analyzing the data it obtained from HBCU Websites
during its most recent update of its Directory
of HBCU Distance Learning Programs (January 2007) within
the broader context of the findings obtained by Sloan-C from its
national survey. In
other words, this report asseses the similarities between
HBCUs and other American institutions of higher learning
with regards to distance learning.
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