Online Education Programs and Global Higher Education

Online courses have proliferated in the past decade with many of America’s top universities offering credit, non-credit, and/or open/free courses online. However, very little is known about (a) the nature and scope of this phenomenon, and (b) its impact on the mobility of international students.

This Capstone final report addresses the impact of emerging trends in online learning on the attitudes of faculty, administrators, and international students at Columbia University. The report explores how new models for online teaching and learning are influencing the way faculty and administrators at Columbia think about international educational opportunities, as well how international students are affected in the process. The questions the Capstone team aim to answer are: 1) How are emerging trends in online distance learning changing the way faculty and administrators at Columbia University conceive of international educational opportunities?; and 2) How are the emerging trends in online distance learning impacting international student mobility? To answer them, the students conducted a case study of e-learning initiatives at Columbia University, interviewed faculty and administrators at the university, and carried out a survey of international students studying at Columbia University. The perspectives encountered in the research suggest that, although the world of online learning is rapidly changing, there is reason to believe that online distance learning will not diminish the demand for international education; that is to say, international student mobility will not be aversely affected by the increasing popularity of online learning. Rather than stemming international student mobility, e-learning has the potential to create new opportunities for international education in terms of new models and modes of delivery.