Contributed by Leslie Rae:
Zane Berge and Lin Muilenburg from the Universities of Maryland and South Alabama have conducted a survey with 2504 valid surveys into the perceived barriers to the increased use of distance education. 815 managers, 346
support staff, 1150 teaching faculty/trainers 102 researchers, and 91 graduates and undergraduates. The researchers were startled to find that most of the perceived barriers were seen at the same level by the wide range of administrators, managers and non-managers. The survey showed that for distance education to increase a cultural change was necessary in the organizations. The top 5 barriers (out of 64) were increased time commitment; lack of implementation money; organizational resistance to change; lack of shared vision; lack of support staff to help course development.
The survey can be seen at http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~berge/man_admin.html.
Is WBT the panacea that it is being announced loudly to be?
