The Promises of Distance Learning
Many of the promises of distance learning are financial in nature. Universities hope to save money by delivering education to students that are unable to attend classes because of time or distance. The theory is that class size increases while the overhead remains the same. In a 2001 article by Burton Bollag and Martha Ann Overland, they say that developing countries are turning to state run distance education programs to take the place of ever increasing enrollments and a lack of physical building space. Places such as Beijing, Jakarta, and South American countries such as Brazil and Argentina have all begun to use distance-learning techniques to reach those that would by any other means be unreachable. Bollag and Overland say countries like China are moving from “elite to mass education,” and that “traditional universities cannot meet the demand” (pg. A29). China uses a radio and television delivery system to serve 1.5 million students, two-thirds of which are in a degree program.