Resource Center

Maximizing Your ROI: Collaboration and Quality in Distance Learning

In July 2003, the US Department of Education released a study that revealed that enrollment in college-level distance courses had increased sharply from 1.3 million in 1997-98 to 2.9 million in 2000-01, and that 90 percent of the distance learning in 2000-01 was asynchronous. As distance learning has expanded, faculty and administrators have wrestled with ever-thornier issues associated with how best to utilize these often-expensive new technologies and how to assess their value. However, distance learning is not a separate, unrelated phenomenon; rather, distance learning is increasingly a core function of a university, and thus, must be viewed as an element to be blended with traditional on-campus learning.

This volume consists of papers presented at the 10th Congress of Health Professions Educators, which examined how academic health centers (and universities in general) can maximize the benefits of distance learning for students and faculty alike. Presenters addressed the benefits and the mechanics of sharing learning objectives, course content, and/or core curricula in the health professions, as well as designing, implementing, and evaluating programs of quality. Additional papers presented at the 10th Congress addressed how distance learning and shared curricula are factored into tenure and promotion decisions, what types of educational applications are emerging, and who retains ownership of shared materials.

The annual Congress of Health Professions Educators convenes faculty and administrators from across the disciplines and from all levels of the academic health center. The 10th Congress was sponsored by the Association of Academic Health Centers (AHC) and Partnerships for Training, a workforce training initiative for which the AHC serves as the national program office. It was held under the auspices of the Center for Interdisciplinary, Community-based Learning (CICL), which operated pursuant to a cooperative agreement between the AHC and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Established in 1997, CICL was dedicated to strengthening and institutionalizing interdisciplinary, community-based learning. The AHC expresses its gratitude to Ann M. Thompson of AMT Communications for editorial assistance and to Fletcher Design for design of the conference materials.

Copyright © 2003 Association of Academic Health Centers. Available here with permission.