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A personal history: 29. Strategic planning for e-learning: a personal case-study
I am writing an autobiography, mainly for my family, but it does cover some key moments in the development of open and online learning. I thought I would share these as there seems to be a growing interest in...
A personal history: 28. Croatia and Chile
I've been a bad blogger. It's over a month since my last post. Put it down to being fully retired and having other interests. For instance I have been having instruction in acrylic painting, which I have dabbled in...
A personal history: 27. Working and playing in Mexico
I am writing an autobiography, mainly for my family, but it does cover some key moments in the development of open and online learning. I thought I would share these as there seems to be a growing interest in...
The crisis in higher education: 8. Thinking outside the box
Overview
I have argued that public higher education institutions can no longer depend on ever increasing revenues for survival. In an era of mass higher education, they need to focus on reducing the cost, to students, parents and government, if...
The crisis in universities and colleges: 7: shortening time to qualify
Recap
Sorry about the short break in these series of posts but I needed to escape a Canadian winter for a week or so. I am now back (and so is winter).
So far in this series I have argued that...
The crisis in universities and colleges: 6: too much (useless) research
Research: more is not better
One way in which the costs of post-secondary education could be significantly reduced without reducing the quality of undergraduates is by culling a lot of unproductive and expensive research. We do not need every faculty...
Universities and Colleges in Crisis: 5. Reducing the costs of courses and programs
The challenge
In an earlier post, I suggested that post-secondary institutions needed to reduce the costs of degrees or diplomas by 30% to win back trust and support from government in particular, the general public in general. But how to...
Universities and Colleges in Peril: 4. Reducing costs
The need to reduce costs
In three previous posts, I tried to make the case that public universities and colleges were losing the support and particularly the trust of government and voters. The public post-secondary system has expanded enormously, but...
Universities and colleges in crisis: 3. The need to focus on costs rather than...
Universities and colleges in peril
In two previous posts (That was the year 2024, that was and Universities and Colleges in Peril) I argued that there was a growing loss of trust in post-secondary education and as a result, 'It...
Universities and Colleges in Peril
An unsustainable higher education system
In recent months, we have seen an existential threat arising for the future of post-secondary education in many countries. Here in Canada, we have been practising a particularly insidious form of colonisation: making people from...
About Tony Bates
Dr. Tony Bates is the author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education. He has provided consulting services specializing in training in the planning and management of online learning and distance education, working with over 40 organizations in 25 countries. Tony is a Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network.