Athabasca University: Conversion from Traditional Distance Education to Online Courses, Programs and Services

Authors

  • Alan Davis

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v1i2.19

Abstract

In its 30 years of operation, Athabasca University has witnessed the full impact of the growth of online distance education. Its conversion from mixed media course production and telephone/mail tutoring to a variety of electronic information and communication technologies has been heterogeneous across disciplines and programs. Undergraduate programs in business, computing, and some social science programs have largely led the conversion, and all graduate programs have, since their inception, employed various features of online delivery. The parallel conversion of student services has been equally important to the effectiveness of these processes. The implications of this approach for the quality of offerings, support systems, costing, and the primary mandate of the University (which is to remove barriers, not create them) are discussed.

Author Biography

Alan Davis

Alan Davis has been at Athabasca University since 1996, as Vice President Academic. Before that he was Director of the Open University of British Columbia for 6 years, and also taught Chemistry at the University College of the Fraser Valley for 12 years. He was educated at the University of London and at Simon Fraser University, where he received his PhD in Chemistry in 1981. He has special interests in collaborative program development, learning accreditation, technology implementation, institutional and program evaluation, and science and drama for young people.

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Published

2001-01-01

How to Cite

Davis, A. (2001). Athabasca University: Conversion from Traditional Distance Education to Online Courses, Programs and Services. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v1i2.19

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2001)

Section

Research Articles

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