Online Learning – is the UK falling behind?

In a recent article in The Guardian by Nancy Coleman, “Online learning: the UK’s scepticism is holding it back”, Ms Coleman states:

“The UK (meaning providers, learners and employers) needs to embrace online learning quickly if its higher education sector isn’t to be left behind on the international stage. Overcoming scepticism will, of course, require a clear basis of regulation and maintenance of standards for all online programmes and a clear sense of differentiation for students between the accredited and non-accredited. In the US that has meant all online providers needing to gain accreditation through one of the regional accreditation bodies or the Distance Education and Training Council in order to be taken seriously.”

It’s impossible to deny the demand for online learning courses.  Google recently published statistics ranking universities globally by the number of searches made for them.  The results do not mirror the traditional world rankings –  the fact that the University of Phoenix comes top is largely due to their broad portfolio of online learning proving that one of the most important things to those seeking education is access to the learning materials.  UCL come in at 12th in the search rankings, just below Mumbai.  The highest-placed UK university?  The Open University at number 3.

The article makes another interesting point about many of the US universities that are ahead of the game in offering online programmes.

“The other major perception barrier is student experience. In some ways, institutions can push at an open door. The digital basis of everyday interaction of any kind is second nature, and students quickly take to online opportunities for sharing, networking and exploring content. The issue is more of changing engrained university approaches to what works and being sophisticated about what they offer. A website with a message board isn’t going to cut it.”

This echoes the sentiments I recently heard expressed by Richard Noss, co-director of the London Knowledge Lab who said that it’s not enough just to recreate existing tools in a digital format (e.g. interactive Smart Boards instead of traditional whiteboards).  We should instead be thinking of how digital advances can uncover a whole new world of interaction that benefits learners and enhances their experience.

Read the whole Guardian article here

See the Google Search University rankings here