Dr. Fred DiUlus, online education pioneer and father of online ratings
and rankings of schools believes there is an industry-wide systemic failure to promote vigorously the adoption of online higher
education for the right reasons. The rapid ongoing adoption of online programs by colleges today is not driven, he says by
improving the plight of student learning, but the pursuit of profits to replace dropping campus based enrollments, lost
legislative funding and alumni giving.
"With the rapid and
literally light speed development across the board of high-end communications technology, you would think", says DiUlus,
"that traditional educators would be climbing over each other to lead the way." They're not leading, he says
because the real leadership is coming from the process providers not educators. "An education systems management developer's
goal", he points out, "is to sell systems and the process of doing school online, not improve education or the knowledge
base of the students."
DiUlus observes college administrators
worldwide are fine with this, satisfied to add online education programs driven by process developers and apparently uninterested
in weaving forward-thinking innovation into the total fabric. "I have yet to find one university in North America
with a five year plan on how online education will change their university and how their students and university will benefit.
Not one major study exists except perhaps for ours." They are drawn, industry critics suggest, by the money to be made
not the innovation or the potential to improve and take higher education to the next level.
The field of Education, regardless of level or mission is going through a revolution, something DiUlus warned ten
years ago when his firm first offered to help traditional schools build online schools, curriculum and programs. "Few
traditional educators and administrators listened," he notes "and fewer are prepared for the international competition
coming from the thousands of international universities."
The
next two years are critical predicts DiUlus over what direction each American college and university will take in growing
universal online innovation. "The bottom line" he says "is about education relevancy and survival."
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Dr. Fred DiUlus is
the Director of the Center for Ethics in Free Enterprise, a non profit cyber based foundation and creator of the first online
university builder, Global Academy Online. He is the author of Best Worst Online Degree Program Providers a free eBook. He
is an institutional strategic planner and consultant for developing nation institutions, US government agencies, universities
and non profit and for profit organizations.
