Addressing A Missing Link In Higher Education On-line Content Development: Toward A Tripartite Collaborative Model

Although more than a dozen methods for developing and offering courses through distance education have been utilized over the years, the offering of on-line courses through the “World Wide Web” is still in its infancy. The number of failures in managing such on-line offerings calls for substantial research to explore why some programs are successful while others fail.  A few years ago, dozens of business schools in the US were trying to position themselves in what was promised to be a lucrative market for on-line education and training.  While some institutions have successfully established internet-based programs, many others have scrapped their on-line projects.  Many reasons account for these failures.  Among these are misinterpretations of the market, problems faced by traditional schools, start-up costs, choice of development/delivery model and faculty skepticism.  While all these reasons have a great impact on the results of the first decade of on-line education experience, this paper focuses on what seems to be the major factor: finding the right on-line model.  The paper suggests that an on-line higher education model based on a partnership between the institution, the content experts and the e-learning technology providers is the most functional.  This model helps each partner clearly determine an appropriate role, increasing the likelihood of a successful outcome.