Harnessing Innovative Technologies in Higher Education: Access, Equity, Policy & Instruction

This publication is an attempt to capture the evolution of distributed higher education over the last decade by tracing the applications of new technologies funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). As FIPSE surveyed the current state of distance/distributed education, there existed an opportunity to help post econdary education make the transition to this new generation of distance education made possible by the explosive growth of the Internet and other new technologies. These technologies created the potential for students to access learning that was interactive, customized, and self-paced; to more easily merge lifelong learning with the demand of careers and families; and to expand their choice of institutions and programs. To fulfill this potential, however, this new generation of distance education would require systemic reforms of institutional practice and policy, as well as new relationships among postsecondary institutions, employers, technology companies, and other important stakeholders