The economics of mass distance education

Changing the Way We Teach by Changing the College: Leading the Way Together

“…The findings of this study are compatible with the literature with regard to whether cost-effectiveness studies can be done (Rumble, 1988;Levin, 1981;Duning, Van Kekerix, and Zaborowski, 1993) and with regard to the opinion that cost-effectiveness needs to consider both benefits and costs (Duning, Van Kekerix, and Zaborowski, 1993;Ansari, 1992). The majority of respondents believe that comparisons between distance and traditional education are possible, and a substantial number of the survey respondents believe that the investment in distance education systems is a benefit to the faculty, staff, and students.…”

“…Although using telecommunications for distance delivery of courses is assumed to be expensive, the reality is that the costs range widely depending upon the technology used and the design of the system (Mace, 1982;Rumble, 1988;Levin, 1981;Levine, 1992;Duning, Van Kekerix, and Zaborowski, 1993). Some of the models used to assess the cost-effectiveness of distance education appear to address the costs of alternatives while ignoring the benefits.…”

Distance education in Latin America: a review

“…There is also now a great deal of general information on the costs of particular media (see, for example, Eicher, 18 Rumble,19 ). In general the costs of distance education systems are driven by the breadth of their curriculum -the more courses they offer, the greater the investment in development of materials (although the cost impact of this can be mitigated by requiring courses to last longer); their choice of media, with print, audio and radio being relatively cheap, videocassettes, television and computing being more expensive; the level of services they provide to individual students, which can increase the variable cost per student markedly; and the sophistication of their administrative systems.…”

IRRODL Volume 5, Number 1

“…This point is well demonstrated by, for example, the array of institutional handbooks on tutoring produced by distance education universities. In practice, established distance education providers typically invest considerably in tutoring and other forms of learner support (Rumble, 1997). Moreover, and certainly among learner support professionals, there is an implicit "preferred" model.…”