When online learning began more than two decades ago, many universities envisioned the creation of international student markets, but this has only recently become a reality. The emergence of a global economy, advances in technology, increased market competition, reduced funding, and the growing desire for degrees from internationally recognized universities have created opportunities that promote transnational learning.
“According to statistics published last week, the number of people studying outside Britain for a complete British higher education qualification rose by 23 percent last year and now equates to
one-sixth of all students taking British degrees,” John Morgan
reported for the
Times Higher Education this January. “Such courses are typically cheaper than those delivered in Britain and allow students to stay closer to home while avoiding the country's visa regime,” he continues.
IGI Global’s latest release,
Transnational Distance Learning and Building New Markets for Universities presents the opportunities, methods, issues, and risks involved in extending university education across national borders. It is important to understand cultural, financial, and legal issues, as well as management approaches, academic delivery options, and business considerations needed to create quality programs that are marketable and cost effective in reaching emerging international markets.
Editor Robert Hogan, University of the South Pacific in Fiji, asserts in his
Preface that “The next evolutionary step, transnational distance learning, or online learning across national borders, has already begun, and it will develop more quickly than that of its predecessor because it will benefit from technological advances and acceptance of online learning.” His book “discusses prior mistakes universities made in assessing the viability of online learning” and discusses “what it takes to create a successful transnational distance-learning program,” he writes.
Julia Morton-Marr, founder of the International Holistic Tourism Education Centre (IHTEC) in Canada argues that “If the global society is going to achieve the United Nations ‘Education for All,’ then transnational distance learning will play a major role.” She continues,
“The UN works towards their Millennium Development Goals for education, while countries such as India still teach by correspondence courses. The reality is that all developing countries will eventually reap the benefits of global online learning.”
“This book describes an innovative technology that moves from issues to solutions,” Morton-Marr writes.