Leadership and Distance Education in Higher Education: A US perspective

Abstract

The premise of this article is that while in the US understanding is growing about the technologies and strategies needed for effective distance education in an online environment, leadership efforts remain weak. The article describes leadership for distance education, historical perspectives of leading distance education, and how the Internet has directly changed distance education efforts in US higher education institutions. The article concludes with an appraisal of how the approach of higher education leaders must change in order for distance education efforts to be successful.

Keywords:

• change,
• distance education,
• higher education,
• Internet,
• leaders,
• leadership,
• technology,
• policy