Distance education: towards an organizational and cultural change in higher education

Purpose - Although higher education institutions have invested substantial resources in distance education (DE) courses, major problems are associated with cultural and organizational changes. The purpose of this article is to identify and portray the organizational and cultural changes occurring while DE is initiated at a higher education institute in Israel. This article discusses the assimilation stages of educational change, the barriers and challenges, and also ways to overcome them and lessons learned. Design/methodology/approach - In order to examine the shift from traditional lecturing in large lecture halls, to DE – anytime anyplace, informal discussions were conducted with 15 lecturers and faculty, indicating a range of opinions. The five‐stage model of ACOT (Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow) were used to indicate lecturers' stages of change. Findings - Some faculty expressed positive attitudes, approving the innovative project; but some expressed negative attitudes, claiming it is a waste of resources (i.e. time, manpower, and money). The authors found that DE opponents base their opinions on traditional beliefs more than on data and evidence. Findings indicated misconceptions about DE and the challenges higher education face while implementing teaching and learning from distance. Originality/value - In the global economy of the twenty‐first century, organizations and companies are under increasing pressure to enhance lifelong learning among their employees, contributing to their professional development and productivity. At a time when employees are often scattered around the world, and keeping them away from their jobs is no longer an option, universities should reach out to them by launching DE programs. To cater to the increasing need for DE programs, the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, has founded TIDES (Technion International Distance Education and Studies) center. In the past year and a half, the Technion has made a substantial capital investment in human resources and technology to support the development of DE courses. However, similar to other universities, the initiation of DE programs challenges the Technion's organizational structure and educational culture. These changes and challenges are highlighted and reflected in this paper.