Forwarding from Eduprise/Need-to-Know (subscribe info at bottom); apologies
for cross-posting.
ONLINE WORKSHEET FIGURE THE COSTS OF DISTANCE ED PROGRAMS
The director of the center for instructional technology at West Virginia's
Marshall University has devised an interactive worksheet to help
administrators calculate the price of creating a distance education program.
The site asks users a dozen questions about their institutional environments
and strategies for distance ed, then generates a spreadsheet with cost and
revenue projections for the first seven years of their online program. Users
can alter variables and get new estimates to test different scenarios. While
the site does warn that its calculations provide only rough estimates and
users should verify figures independently, some point up its weaknesses. For
example, says one critic, the worksheet doesn't take enough factors into
account, such as the fact that the computing
infrastructure for online courses can also be used to enhance traditional
courses. Nevertheless, it's a starting point for first-timers. (Chronicle of
Higher Education 8 June 2000)
http://chronicle.com/free/2000/06/2000060802u.htm
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