[art] Web-based Distance Learning: Substitute or Alternative to the Traditional Classroom: Making the Delivery Method Decision

David Marshall Hunt, PhD.
Touro University International
Cypress, California

Abstract

When a distance learning program administrator makes the critical choice of delivery methods, she/he needs to consider factors such as program developer centrism, international experience, cultural similarity, and desired level of control which will all be elaborated on in this article. The aim of this manuscript is to assist international business program developers with first a systematic framework and secondly a decision-tree model for making this critical delivery decision. Globalization and technology as well as changing demographics are altering our view of the field of international business, no where is this more evident than in the ways we teach executives and future managers to equip them for careers in international business. Web-based distance learning (WBDL) has skyrocketed into the training and education arenas since the mass usage of Internet technology began in the late 1990’s. It is no longer a fad or new trend it is now an established, although rapidly changing, approach for delivering educational materials such as international business courses for both training and educational courses and programs. Our focus here is on finding answers to two questions: first, should the delivery method be primarily based on a global standard, or a locally customized, or a hybrid international business program? And secondly, should international business courses be delivered in the form of WBDL supplements to traditional classroom courses or as substitutes that are entirely online? In conclusion, we offer several suggestions and research ideas to distance learning administrators and while the focus has been on international business education, we invite a discussion of broader applications of both the framework and decision-tree model which we have contributed.

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Fuente: [westga.edu, online journal of distance learning]