Introduction
The advent of online distance learning has significantly brought many changes in the work environment. Previously, workers needed to be present physically in lecture halls in order to get education, which also meant that they sacrificed their work, either to be done by someone else or not to be done at all.
With the advancement in technology that has revolutionized the operations of many companies, especially in the last century to date, it has become increasingly important for the affected firms to train their workers to remain competitive in the business arena. However, this trained could experience a setback if all workers were to leave their workplaces to be in lecture halls.
The Western Governors University, consequently, designed a curriculum that offers online distance-learning thus enabling workers to stay put in their jobs but access education. The paper explores how the curriculum change of the university responded to the needs of the community.
Distance Learning
The unprecedented technological advancement that characterized the previous century into the present time significantly changed the pattern of work in industries. The obvious step to take was to re-train workers to be techno savvy in their workstations. New recruits were also incorporated in the learning program to acquire the requisite expertise on a given job.
However, the dynamism of technology created a bigger problem in the industries that overlapped further to the community. It required that workers down their tools and enroll for appropriate courses in learning institutions in a bid to catch up with new technology.
Such a scenario created a problem since factories could not operate hence losing out in their market shares and at the same time affecting the community that they served (Gitman & McDaniel, 2008).
It is against this backdrop that the need to formulate distance-learning programs became necessary. Having seen that disconnect, policy makers at Western Governors University mooted a plan to change its curriculum in order to accommodate workers in that factories.
Such a program would not require students to be present physically in places of learning but to learn through correspondence via the Internet while going about their own businesses. The insightful leadership of the school’s administrators midwifed a solution to the community problem by retaining workers in the industries and giving them the much-needed knowledge through long distance learning (Caulfield, n.d.).
According to the interview with the principal, Western Governor’s University emerged as a non-profit leaning institution that uses online learning services to reach out to students who are far way from the school’s premises. In fact, the university’s mission statement changed to accommodate its new curriculum hence reads: “[to] provide a means for people to learn independent of time or space” (Caulfield, n.d.).
Moreover, the university does not only offer distance learning but also focuses on students’ competence. That is, students earn degrees by demonstrating a high degree of competency than completing units required. The principal further revealed that the rationale behind the flexible system is pegged on the school’s objective of meeting the challenges of a changing economy and society.
The competency is achieved through assessments, tests, and term papers that students are required to write/sit. According to the university’s curriculum director in a separate interview, the curriculum was designed such that each student is given a mentor to help him/he develop an academic plan based on student’s needs and schedule and degree requirement.
He revealed that Western Governor’s University has collaborated with a renowned test services provider to offer Internet-based tests without technological restriction and at efficient cost.
Description and Demographics of the Community and Western Governors University
Western Governors University is a competency based university drawing students from all the fifty states in the U.S. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in an array of disciplines such as Information Technology, Business, Nursing, among others.
In 2009 and 2010, it was awarded Best of State for online Education. It has its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah; and other offices in Indiana and Arizona, Phoenix. Although it enrolls students living in the U.S., exceptions are made to Americans who are in the missions outside the country.
The population of the school is predominantly white according to the school’s president. The other races are a minority topped by the Asians and African Americans. This is a reflection of the population mix of the community around Salt Lake City.
Undergraduate students compose 72.52% of the school’s population with graduate students at 22.19% according to the president. Female students are 60.8% and males 38.5% in gender demographics. Students who are in employment constitute 81.57% making the university a suitable learning institution for busy students.
The demographic information of the surrounding community was obtained from separate interviews conducted with the university’s administration and a member of the community. According to the administration, the population of the area is approximately 181, 743 with an average age of 30.00.
It is an indication that the population is actively involved in work and/or studies at that prime age. About 50.66% of the population is employed with an average of 73,844 in white-collar jobs while 78,305 in blue-collar jobs.
It therefore means that the various industries in the locality must run with the workforce supplied by the community. With the advancement in technology, that substantially affects those in blue-collar employment; the companies need to educate their staff on the novel work methods occasioned by technology.
Western Governors University’s trademark in online distance education with extremely flexible programs ensures that workers stay put on their jobs while simultaneously studying the intricacies of the new technology without physically moving to the lecture halls.
According to the community member interviewed, there are approximately 71,461 households in the Salt Lake City and those with family are slightly more than a half of all the households. Taking an education leave to attend a traditional classroom experience will impact negatively on the employer and the community.
When a need for training arises, an employer cannot afford to take half of his workforce to school because this would ground the operations of the company to a halt. Assuming this occurs, the households whose members have gone for study leaves may lack sufficient income due to unpaid leave. Furthermore, the products of services offered/rendered by these companies will cease to exist due to shortage of workforce.
The ingenuity of Western Governors University administration, according to the interviewed community member, provides a definitive solution to this possible problem. Many workers in various companies have registered for different online programs at the Western Governors University.
In fact, according to one professor interviewed at the university, the soaring number of high school graduates in the community occasions high enrollment for online degree programs as they engage in job search. The population of high school graduates stands at 21,804 according to the professor.
There is no doubt that Western Governors University has embraced the provisions of the Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) with its excellent online programs. According to the fourth standard of the ELCC, the exercise of leadership in a school setting in all its facets is the core function of principal, supervisors, curriculum directors, and president.
Although good leadership in schools is a collaborative effort, it also requires a degree of expertise and the expression of certain attributes. The school leadership of Western Governors University is a sterling example of the collaboration of stakeholders that results in success.
The school’s leadership therefore, has the ability to promote the success of all categories of students by collaborating with families and other community members; to respond to the diverse community interests and needs; and finally to mobilizing community resources (Epstein, 2010).
A critical look at the innovativeness of the online program at the university reveals an institution that is in-touch with the needs of the surrounding community. Given the tight schedules of those in employment and the thirst for knowledge that grew by the day, the university leadership mooted a plan to bridge the gap between education and work by literally narrowing down the distance and time that separated the two.
Consequently, the community was able to go on with its business uninterrupted and at the same time acquire the requisite knowledge for the jobs that are done. To this extend, ELCC standard 4.3 was satisfactorily met (Epstein, 2010).
The ELCC standard 4.1 was also met by the university insofar as the mobilization of community resources is concerned. The medium for the distance learning rolled out by the university is the Internet, which is an invaluable resource of the community. Its availability and accessibility by almost all households facilitated the success of the program.
The university leadership looked at the web-based learning as a viable option that responded to the community’s need for flexible study programs. In so doing, the university managed to cut on the costs of offering its degree programs that further translated into the programs’ affordability by students.
Conclusion
Western Governors University is the pioneer institution to launch online distance-learning degree program in the United States. The university’s leadership in this program was a collaborative effort between the school district’s president, principal, administrators, and faculty deans. The genesis of the idea is traced from the need to address community’s need for education and work.
After assessing the threat that factories and the surrounding community would face as a result of advancing technology, the school’s leadership acted swiftly to avert the possibility of companies’ closure due to shortage of techno savvy workers by offering flexible online education to enable them learn to operate the new machines.
Moreover, the jobs that would otherwise be lost were retained for workers could easily study and work at the same time without travelling physically to the university.
References
Caulfield, C. (n.d.). “The Future of Distance Learning in Practice” The Learned Leader. Retrieved from: <https://www.wgu.edu/about.html>
Epstein, J.L. (2010). School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Preparing Educators and Improving Schools. New York, NY: Westview Press.
Gitman, L.J. & McDaniel, C. (2008). The Future of Business: The Essentials. Chicago, IL: Cengage Learning.