Developing a strategy for the implementation of a distance education initiative in a public university setting on the United States-Mexico border: The case of the UACJ

This study is a descriptive review of the different approaches that institutions of higher education worldwide have taken in the planning process for the use of new information technologies and telecommunications to deliver distance education programs. The review was undertaken in order to determine common patterns that have offered the greatest levels of distance education effectiveness as well as applications uniquely relevant to the operational context of the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (UACJ) in Mexico. This study focuses primarily on the development of a conceptual framework. This framework reviews and categorizes concrete planning and organizational models that can work effectively to develop instructional programs devoted to meeting the learning needs of a changing student demographic in higher education. The purposes of this research are: (1) to determine what approaches will best meet the UACJ\u27s needs to implement an effective distance education initiative that fits the requirements of its stakeholders; and (2) to assess how the experience of other higher education institutions can contribute to the development of strategies to achieve the desired outcomes