If online or digital learning is not relevant to you or your college, you can stop reading now.
OK, thanks for staying with me. Most college leaders would agree that online education is not a passing fad: Recent studies show that one out of three students takes at least one online course.
At my institution, the University of Rochester, I serve as associate vice president for online learning — a role that has become increasingly common in American universities in the past five years, according to studies I have conducted on online leadership. Intended to organize and guide a college’s online-learning strategy, the job often carries the title of vice president, dean, or director of online or digital learning.
So why is this new title spreading?
The flurry of activity around MOOCs starting in 2012 contributed to the general visibility of such courses and often led to more dialogue about online teaching and learning. Greater awareness among college leaders and trustees led to questions about the state of online learning at their institutions. Suddenly they wanted to know, “What’s happening online at our institution?” or “What should be happening?”
Another reason for the rise of this new position: Most colleges now define the scope of online learning in relationship to all their courses, while in the past they might have taken a much narrower view through the lens of “distance education.” I believe colleges now have a much sharper understanding of the potential impact that online learning can have on all academic offerings. Through research and practice, more faculty members have developed an appreciation for the design of instructional activities that take advantage of the features of online learning. This could include more opportunities for student interaction and collaboration with classmates, more active engagement with online activities and resources, and prompt feedback from professors.
Whether their position uses the term “online learning,” “digital learning,” “e-learning,” or something else, most of these leaders have a responsibility to support faculty members across the continuum of teaching and learning, including face-to-face classroom courses, completely online courses, and everything in between.
The leaders I surveyed also made clear that online learning played a strategic role at their institutions. The strategic goal they cited most often for online learning was to raise enrollment levels, followed by the desire to promote innovation in teaching and to improve student engagement. Given those views, it is understandable that colleges would want to have someone who serves as a point person on those issues. As for shorter-term priorities, the leaders I surveyed identified faculty development and training, strategic planning for online learning, and staffing for instructional design and faculty support as the top three.
Colleges now think of online learning in relationship to all their courses.
Almost three out of four leaders reported that their institutions were using online-learning initiatives as a catalyst for organizational change. More than half reported that such areas as instructional design, faculty development and training, course design, multimedia development, learning-management systems, online-learning policy, and educational technology had become part of their responsibilities. These new leadership roles require new skills, and those on track for such a job might find it useful to read James MacGregor Burns’s classic book Transforming Leadership: A New Pursuit of Happiness, as well as Transformational Leadership, by Bernard M. Bass and Ronald E. Riggio, which expands on Burns’s book. An effective leader in this environment needs to inspire through challenge and persuasion, know how to tap people’s strengths, and encourage faculty members with support and coaching.
A key aspect of the new leadership positions in digital learning is the reporting relationship. While technology enables us to perform new tasks in new ways, online learning is not about IT; rather, it centers on innovation in instruction. That is why the majority of these leaders report directly to the provost. Simply put, online learning is a vital academic activity.
Clayton Christensen, the scholar behind the theory of disruptive innovation, made the bold prediction in 2014 that as many as half of American universities could face bankruptcy within 15 years, in part because of the rise of online education. Whether or not you agree with his projection, it emphasizes the need of institutions to manage (or leverage) this potentially disruptive force. Developing plans for online learning and determining how they apply to a specific institution requires thoughtful leadership from people who are well-versed in all dimensions of our field.
Faculty members play a central and foundational role in online education. Generally they tend to value the experience and advice of their colleagues and peers. Not surprisingly, half of the online-learning leaders I surveyed held a faculty appointment, underscoring the importance of having a credible relationship with their most significant constituent group.
Along with classroom and online-teaching skills, other valuable types of expertise for online-learning leaders include experience in educational research, management and leadership, instructional design, and IT.
More recently, I conducted a nationwide study focused on the role of digital-learning leaders at community colleges. While there were some differences in the results, that survey, too, affirmed the relevance of this new role.
The groups working to advance online education — the Online Learning Consortium, Quality Matters, and the Educause Learning Initiative, among others — provide opportunities for this new cohort of academic leaders to network and collaborate. And that is fortunate, since their numbers are only going to keep growing.
Eric E. Fredericksen is associate vice president for online learning and an associate professor of educational leadership at the University of Rochester. He is also president of the Board of Directors of the Online Learning Consortium.
