At Brigham Young University’s Department of Independent Study, administrators have recently evaluated the effectiveness of their highly automated distance education classes, determining that more interactivity requires a trade-off with the accompanying demands. This article provides perspectives on these issues and then proposes four models that increase interactivity while allowing for some scalability...

The attitude of instructors, students, course administrators, and course designers has a significant impact on the quality of a distance education program. The existing literature shows the factors that inhibit these groups from participating in this educational medium...

Administering a Web-Based Course on Database Technology

Managerial challenges related to carrying out the web-based course are discussed in this article and involve tasks such as advertising efforts to enroll new students, interaction with the web-environment, learning evaluation from instructional contents and customer satisfaction with the learning outcomes. Conclusions taken from managing such a course are presented regarding technology requirements, financial results and market possibilities are presented...

Blended Instruction: Adapting Conventional Instruction for Large Classes

This article provides a discussion of issues confronting institutions of higher education in their efforts to reduce costs and improve the quality of instruction for large classes...

The study involved engaging 54 general and special educators in several professional roles from nine states in a series of focus groups to identify the barriers to online staff development. An instrument was designed to rank order the barriers in terms of perceived significance. Twenty-two barriers were identified...

This article focuses on the intricacy of faculty preparedness for technology-based distance education (TBDE) from the perspective of their concerns and how these concerns vary with time...

This article summarizes the lessons learned from the planning, implementation, and assessment of an online MBA program. In particular, the need to carefully position a new online program in the menu of existing programs is investigated...

This paper discusses the metaphor “organizations as organisms” as conceived of by Garith Morgan (1997, 1998) in the books Images of Organization and Images of Organization: The Executive Edition. It applies the metaphor to adult and in particular distance education management and organizations in an attempt to conceptualize the incredibly complex reality of management and organizational life...

Distance Learning Programs for Non-Traditional and Traditional Students in the Business Disciplines

The article presents a comparison of online and on ground instructional techniques focusing on the differences between face-to-face and computer-mediated communication. Lessons are drawn from the authors, who collectively teach online courses at Nova Southeastern University as well as the United States Sports Academy, Baker College, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Hawaii...