Distance Education at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions: 2006-07. First Look

摘要

This report provides national estimates on distance education at degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the 2006-07 academic year. The survey is the fourth of its kind undertaken by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES); the first survey was conducted in 1995, the second in 1998, and the third in 2002. For the 2006-07 study, distance education was defined as a formal education process in which the student and instructor are not in the same place. Thus, instruction may be synchronous or asynchronous, and it may involve communication through the use of video, audio, or computer technologies, or by correspondence (which may include both written correspondence and the use of technology such as CD-ROM). While this report covers many of the topics in the previous reports, the data are not comparable. The definition of distance education in the 2006-07 study reflected two major changes from earlier studies. First, the definition no longer included a criterion for instructional delivery to off-campus or remote locations because online courses could be accessed on campus at a convenient time and place (e.g., between classes and in a computer lab). Second, the definition included correspondence courses and distance education courses that were designated by institutions as hybrid/blended online courses.