Distance Education Technology: Higher Education Barriers during the First Decade of the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

In the twenty-first century, despite the expanded opportunities technology affords in student-access to higher education, most institutions of higher education are hesitant to offer technology-based distance education (TBDE). The prohibiting factors include cost, accessibility, faculty concerns, state mandates, academic administrative actions, and unit operations. Differences exist in the prohibitive factors prevalent at the start and at the end of the first decade of the 21st century. Knowledge of the differences may aid higher education TBDE administrators identify or allude to barriers pertinent to their institution. Higher education administrators of institutions relatively new or limited in the use of TBDE are most likely to experience the gamut of TBDE prohibitive factors of the first decade of the 21st century. Whereas higher education administrators of institutions not new to the use of TBDE or who are at an innovative stage in the use of TBDE are most likely to experience TBDE prohibitive factors of the latter part of the first decade of the 21st century. In this paper prohibitive TBDE factors prevalent at the start of the 21st century and those prevalent a decade afterwards are discussed.