The following paper provides an comprehensive analysis of interviews conducted on June 19, 2016 and June 22, 2016, with Dr. William (Bill) Pepicello, the former President of University of Phoenix, one of the leading for-profit distance education institutions in the United States. Dr. Pepicello’s distinguished career in higher education, and especially his tenure at University of Phoenix, made him a prime candidate for this interview, which centered on the topics of leadership and management with respect to the past, present, and future of distance education. His responses demonstrated a vast knowledge of the growing field as well as the importance of leadership and management for it to thrive in the 21st century. His experience and …show more content…
As president, Pepicello focused on innovation and growth in order to continue to best serve UoP’s student population. In a separate interview with Today’s Campus, he referred to external economic struggles in society and the move toward online education as reasons to reposition UoP, stating that, “Through all the turbulence and all the change, the one thing that has not changed is our mission of the university and who we serve” (Pepicello, 2015). As President Emeritus, since June 2014, Pepicello remains highly involved in the world of higher education, serving as a member on the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) and on the Peer Review Corps of the Higher Learning Commission, among other ventures (LinkedIn, 2016).
Interview Analysis
Distance Education Pepicello’s ideas and philosophies about distance education were stimulating and thought-provoking. While he did not necessarily know that higher education was where he wanted to spend his career, it was his passion, so he followed it (Pepicello, personal communication, June 22, 2016). Eventually, he would cross paths with John Sperling, the founder of UoP, who he considers a visionary and his most influential leader and mentor: “He took me from a doubter to one of the most vigorous proponents of distance education in the country” (Personal communication, June 19, 2016). Pepicello’s passion for higher education and his eventual passion for distance education, then, guided
Adam Savage once said “I think one of the defining moments of adulthood is the realization that nobody 's going to take care of you. That you have to do the heavy lifting while you 're here. And when you don 't, well, you suffer the consequences.” Now, what if we replaced “adulthood” with the term “higher education”, or more specifically, “distance education”? The words become almost synonymous when you define what it takes to succeed in either field. In the article, College Distance Education Courses: Evaluating Benefits and Costs from Institutional, Faculty and Students’ Perspectives written by Simon A. Lei and Rajeev K. Gupta, distance education is defined as “technology-based instruction in which students are at a location physically separated from their instructor during the entire course of study” (Lei and Gupta 616). In Lei and Gupta’s article, there are many drawbacks of distance education defined, but distance education remains an amazing opportunity because the benefits and the platform to develop useful life skills far outweigh said drawbacks.
“Can You Be Educated from a Distance,” an insightful essay by James Barszcz, brings to focus some of the benefits and disadvantages of Distance Learning education (DL). In it, Barszcz discusses the mechanics of DL courses available to students, the quality of education DL can offer, and some reasoning behind its rapidly growing popularity. “Can You Be Educated from a Distance” is an engaging article that students of all ages can benefit from.
Many advocates of distance education are ardent about their venue and very critical of traditional education. These online education devotees view traditional classes as being unchangeable, inflexible, teacher-centered, and static (Angiello, 2010). However, proponents argue that many simply would not be able to get a degree without distance education—the full-time police officer, the mother of four, or the individual living in a rural area approximately 100-200 miles away from any educational institution. Many individuals desperately need distance education courses because they "have jobs, families, civic responsibilities. They are thirsting. But some want us to say, 'Sorry you don’t want to drink the water there, but we can’t bottle our fresh spring water, so you’ll have to come here or drink nothing" (Baker, 1986). Proponents contend that distance education is "as good as" traditional education. In other words, learning occurs as much in distance education as it does in traditional education. However, is this really so? Does distance education work better for some students
2b. The title of the book is The Distance Education Evolution: Issues and Case Studies.
San California Online Colleges is likewise San Francisco’s second-biggest superintendent — drawing in capable workforce and staff who mirror the vitality and entrepreneurial soul of the Bay Area. The most energizing part of being at San California Online Colleges is its differing group of individuals who independently add to changing the norm with their various foundations, encounters and points of view. Our capacity to enlist top ability prompts a consistent inundation of new thoughts and methodologies over each of our missions: research, patient consideration and
Setting up a Distance Learning Task Force is necessary to assess university resources, and student needs (Hillman & Corkery, 2010). This will allow administration to have all the facts needed to decide on a path. Task Force determines the expansiveness of the online program and the courses implemented (Hillman & Corkery, 2010). Departmental head’s research will navigate the universities decisions. Students take classes towards specific degrees, which the Task Force identifies. Priority of classes should focus on gaps in regionally based education (Hillman & Corkery, 2010). The Task Force efforts in developing a rationale has an effect on university
When talking about leadership, did you know that the United States Marine Corps. stresses and requires distance education courses for younger Marines to better prepare them to be future leaders. While I was in the Marine Corps., I took the Leading Marines Distance Education and Sergeants Distance Education courses. These courses were extremely invaluable to me as I was being promoted and taking on more responsibilities as a leader. Both courses laid out a foundation that describes, “A distance learning leader is a visionary capable of action who guides an organization’s future, its vision, mission, goals, and objectives. The leader guides the organization and its people who have faith in the leader, and have a clear understanding
Distance Education is connected to the conveyance of classroom substance to understudies who are either on or off grounds and spotlights on understudies isolated from each other and from the instructor.19 This learning action incorporates access to direction that is autonomous of time and place limits.
All three articles utilize many different tools to foster and promote distance education. The tools identified above ensure the doctoral student has sufficient socialization, development and collaboration with their peers to ensure personal and professional
The role of the instructor in online education has been the subject of copious literature and research studies since online education alters the widely accepted traditional role of the instructor in traditional face-to-face educational settings. Berge (1995) in his article, “The Role of the Online Instructor/Facilitator” discusses the presence of the instructor in courses offered primarily at a distance and identifies a framework that consists of four categories that must be fulfilled by the online instructor/facilitator to successfully support learners in distance education. Berge (1995) discusses the pedagogical, social, managerial, and technical roles of the instructor and provides suggestions on the tasks each role entails.
"There is some evidence that the success of distance education in schools depends largely on the effectiveness of the teacher, and that this is in turn depends on the teacher's knowledge, skills, enthusiasm, and commitment to innovation." (Moore & Thompson 1990).
Online education, also called long distant learning, can be defined as a new method of learning through a computer network. This modern way of teaching gives students an opportunity to take classes online. Bill Gates
Non-traditional students are finding it easier and easier to maintain a job, a family, and pursuing a college career at the same time. This is possible because more and more non-traditional students are receiving an education using distance learning, as opposed to traditional, in-the-classroom teaching. Distance learning is basically taking college level, credit-bearing courses via the Internet. One of the most obvious advantages of distance learning is that it puts the classroom in your home, office, or wherever you can find a computer and log on to the Internet. However, there is much controversy regarding the quality of the courses being offered on the Internet versus the quality of
Education is an important part of people’s lives; it will either make them or break them in the future depending on the careers they choose. Education is greatly diverse today in comparison to the 1950s because of advancements in teaching and other great inventions that provide easier techniques of teaching. One major issue that has been raised is distant learning courses and online education.
Online distant learning programs help make the easy connection of students in a program connect to the more accessible home environment in a simple way. Students are now given the option of getting their education and making their own schedules, without going through a second person in an easy more efficient way. Consequently, to succeed in online courses and programs the student must have good time management, a computer or laptop, and internet connection. Also online distant learning programs are subjectively done through monologue, not our dialogue; having been previously filmed and then posted on the internet stating course information, not caring about the viewers, or if the