1. The social benefits of online education
Juan Pablo Stegmann Ph.D.
Walden University
The 18th Annual Sloan Consortium
International Conference on Online Learning
At a cross roads:
On line education in a complex world
October 2012

2. The social benefits of online education
1. Case study: UNAD Colombia
2. International experiences
3. Conceptual framework

3. UNESCO
Unesco (2009): online education is the educational modality that
because of its pedagogical and technological versatility becomes the
best choice for developed and developing countries to meet the
requirements of quality, inclusion, coverage and educational extension
of the XXI century.

4. Online education builds a smart and connected society
Online education fosters research and team
collaboration helping to create individual and
organizational knowledge…
…connects students with external communities
sharing resources, networking, internationality…
…promoting collaboration, critical thinking,
creativity, entrepreneurship, motivation.
Traditional education focuses on faculty generated
knowledge, or student existing knowledge

5. Social impact
Relying on the information and telecommunications technology
provided by the universities and their lower costs, online education is
leading a profound transformation in two dimensions:
 Is connecting sectors of the society with abundant knowledge
resources, with global sectors in need of such knowledge:
populations in remote locations, working adults, and lower income
individuals.
 The students become active knowledge generators, and members of
new knowledge communities. This is raising the quality of the
education, especially in remote locations.
In other words, is creating a global community which has profound
effects in several dimensions.

6. UNAD: success story of online education
Sharp quality improvement
Processes approved by ISO 9001 (2008)
and NTCGP 1000 (2009) and Colombian
authorities (2010), 5 programs
accredited
Dramatic growth in students
especially in remote locations
Large growth in new programs
Created in 1980. Since it became
online (2004) it has grown steadily

7. Promotion of research
Articles published at peer reviewed
publications
Research projects approved by
UNAD 2011
Financial resources allocated to
research
Research groups recognized by
Colombian authorities

8. Support to the community, especially
under-privileged sectors
Population: 95% 1-2-3 socio economic
strata, 75% under 23 years old, 55%
women, 11% vulnerable adolescents,
15.7% adult workers, 6.7% working
mothers heads of the family, 6.4%
disabled or marginalized.
Support to minority students Support of students with
special needs
Support of faculty

9. Internationalization
 250 faculty are receiving education of Master
and Doctorate degrees in the United States.
 24,295 secondary students are receiving
English language education, with participation
of 118 educational institutions and 283
English teachers.
 Alliances with universities in the Americas,
Europe, Africa and Middle East.
 International congresses inviting global
academic personalities in online education

10. Success of online alumni over traditional
Income growth of graduates
At different socio economic levels
Evolution of graduated income
compared to other universities

11. Benefits of online education at UNAD
 High level of student’s satisfaction, maximizing
personal educational experience, reducing desertion
rate
 Cooperation, solidarity, mutual stimulation,
multicultural interaction
 Autonomous, self regulated learning
 Incorporation of ITC in the population
 Research: 63 groups approved by ColCiencia
 Entrepreneurship, networking and alliances
 Critical thinking, creativity

12. Testimonies of the benefits of online
education
Studied while in prisonBusiness development in
remote locations
Started college at 86
Alumni develops farm for
underprivileged elderly
Students abandon the
guerrilla to study
Alumni do social work to help
vulnerable communities

13. Conclusions: the benefits of online
education at UNAD
UNAD’s substantive
responsibilities and
its social benefits:
social and economic
development –
inclusion -
cooperation,
research,
internationalization,
innovation, holistic
education

14. The social benefits of online education
1. Case study: UNAD Colombia
2. International experiences
3. Conceptual framework

15. Online education in Africa: multiple benefits in
unprotected sectors, a factor of cultural and social
transformation
 Economic, social and economic inclusion of marginalized sectors
(Aderinoye et al, 2004; Olakulehin et al, 2006; Sekiwu, 2010)
 Source of high quality education (Olaoluwakotansibe, 2010)
 Health and education (Ngwenya, 2010)
 Brains’ export and reimport (Ambe-Uva, 2009)

16. Online education in Asia: dramatic impact on personal
and social dynamics, with explosive growth
 In Malaysia (Puvaneswary et al, 2010)
 Personal development
 Platform for socialization
 Knowledge creation
 In China explosive growth with above million new students per year
to support development (Larson, 2008; Carr-Chellman, 2000)
 In the Philippines online education strategic for the future of the
country, incorporating adult learners (dela Pena-Bandalaria, 2007)

17. Online education in the Anglophone world: growing
innovation with impact on academic quality
 University of the People: free education, accessing 115 countries,
with social orientation (Kevin Carey, 2011)
 Australia: online education compensates for the lower quality of
traditional education in remote areas (Creswell, 2004)
 Canada: advantages of distance education in remote areas (Dodd,
2009):

18. Online education in Indian subcontinent: it grows in
number, and provides a superior educational quality
 Explosive growth of online education, especially in rural areas,
promoted by ICT (Misra, 2006)
 The quality of traditional education is inversely proportional to the
distance, but not online education (Mitra, 2008)
 India promotes online education by use of schools, post offices,
online education centers and health centers (Overland, 2006)
 Bangladesh Open University (higher education institution in
Bangladesh), has enrolled 800,000 students in the last 15 years,
several of its traditional programs are decreasing and tend to
disappear (Sharker et al, 2006; Rezanur, 2008)
 Foreign universities aimed at high-income sectors (Overland, 2000)

19. Online education in Latin America: extraordinary
acceptance at all levels
 Costa Rica online education in rural areas: success with marginal and
rich students (Ramaswami, 2009; Amighetti, 2003)
 100 new indigenous universities are being created in Latin America,
based on distance education (Campbell, 2006)
 Community Learning Centers in Mexico (Instituto Tecnologico de
Monterrey, Mexico): success in remote and marginal areas, offering
courses, promoting social integration and leadership in community
members (Larson, 2008)

20. The social benefits of online education
1. Case study: UNAD Colombia
2. International experiences
3. Conceptual framework

21. Education and economic development
Study of Stanford University and University of Munich (Hanushek,
2007):
 The quality of education has powerful effects on individual income, income
distribution and economic growth.
 The current situation in developing countries is much worse than is
generally shown on the basis of school enrollment and achievement in
terms of graduation.
 Limited to providing additional resources to schools is unlikely to be
successful, improving the quality of schools will require structural changes
in institutions
Education is a barrier against terrorism (Krueger, 2003)

22. 1. The high cost of traditional education…
Traditional education is too expensive in many regions, only
affordable by high income households. Higher education: an
impossible dream in many countries, it costs a large percent of
household income for tertiary education per student per year,
compared with higher income countries (Murakami, World Bank
2008)

23. …versus the lower cost of online education
 The lower cost of online education is a critical factor to
educate lower income regions
 There is a clear correlation between the wealth of a
population and their level of education (PISA Programme for
International Student Assessment World Bank)
 Online education is an excellent carrier to solve that difficulty.

24. 2. The quality of education is a key factor
that impacts on economic growth…
 Strong correlation between economic growth with quality of education,
100 countries (Barro, 2000), 1965-1995
 Stanford University and University of Munich: economic growth correlates
with the quality of education but not with the quantity of education
(Hanushek, 2007)

25. …research is a key factor in ensuring
the quality of education
 Project MIT-LINC (Learning International Network Consortium,
community of Individuals and Organizations focusing on
tertiary education in Developing Countries) (Park, 2008;
Larson, 2009)
 Online education promotes individual and organizational
knowledge creation - research

26. 3. Online education promotes quality
learning, knowledge creation and critical
thinking…
Online collaborative framework (adaptation from
Redmond et al, 2006); Source: Lock 2006

27. …especially rich in international online
collaboration (Lock, 2006)…
 Constructivism: Online learning has moved from a teacher-directed and
static content environment to a constructivist environment that is learner-
centred and collaborative: learners “construct their own understandings of
the world in which they live” (Sergiovanni, 1996, p. 38).
 Online collaboration: “knowledge creation, group learning, development
and maintenance processes, computer-mediated communication, and the
presentation of these issues in online learning environments.”
(Haythornthwaite, 2006)
 Critical Thinking: “Working with a group of equal-status peers to solve a
problem is particularly conducive to the development of critical thinking
skills because it exposes individuals to different perspectives and
interpretations of a problem or idea (Abrams, 2005)

28. …proving the power of the network,
creating a brain – organic organization
 Networks are a key component of entrepreneurship (Nicolaou, 2004)
 Knowledge becomes transactional, created by the community, improved by
the exercise of critical thinking (Garrison, 2004).
 Innovation relies on formal and informal networks, generated by
relationships. Networks are channels and conduits. (Owen-Smith, 2004)
 Learning communities engage in continuous improvement, develop
collective responsibility, create alignment and accountability (Hord, 2012)
 An ecology is an environment that fosters and supports the creation of
communities: learning is an ecology, community, network. Technology as
an enabler of learning...and of creating connections. The more complex the
learning needs, and the more quickly the field of knowledge evolves, the
more valuable a learning community and network becomes. (Siemens,
2003)

29. Thank you

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