| dc.description |
THE CHALLENGES FOR MARKETING DISTANCE EDUCATION IN ONLINEENVIRONMENT An Integrated ApproachEdited by Prof. Dr. Ugur DEMIRAY,Assist. Prof. Dr. N. Serdar SEVER,Print ISBN 978-975-06-0596-3, Electronic ISBN 978-975-98590-6-0,732pp. 2009, Anadolu University, Eskisehir-Turkey(Available from http://www.midasebook.com)Reviewed by Associate Professor, Natalija LEPKOVADoctor of technological sciencesDepartment of Construction Economicsand Property ManagementVilnius Gediminas Technical University,LITHUANIADistance education, or distance learning, is a field of education that focuses on the pedagogy and andragogy, technology, and instructional systems design that aim to deliver education to students who are not physically "on site". According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ―is a process to create and provide accessto learning when the source of information and the learners are separated by time and distance, or both.‖In other words, distance learning is the process of creating an educational experience of equal qualitative value for the learner to best suit their needs outside the classroom. Rather than attending courses in person,teachers and students may communicate at times of their own choosing by exchanging printed or electronic media, or through technology that allows them to communicate in real time and through other onlineways. The purpose of marketing is to understand trends in the field and customer needs in a global marketplace. In this case the customers are students and they could be called as a ―kings‖ of the market. This is a challenge with online learning because the field is in a constant state of development. Marketing online educationprograms is becoming more of a necessity as global competition increases. To be on time and in a right place-this is the target of distance learning marketing. 37 authors wrote 22 chapters from different 17 universities in 6 countries. 256 This book is divided into six sections, each dealing with a different aspect ofmarketing for distance learning programs: strategic framework of marketing for open and distance learningprograms; advertising, promotion, intellectual property issues and collaborativedistance education; marketing in global context; marketing of language teaching via distance and online programs; three specific case studies from Turkey; lessons learned and literature review.Strategic Framework of Marketing For Open And Distance Learning ProgramsIn the first chapter, Demiray and Sever set the stage for the content of the book.They argue for the importance of addressing client (student) centered needs in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) settings, and they present the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) approach as one model that may be useful. They review global trends, examples from the Middle East, and they describe what hasbeen done in Turkey. They look at the education as a service.The second chapter by Tripathi and Mukerji from Indira Ghandi National Open University (IGNOU) makes the case for India, where sustainability through human development and education is a high priority. They present the IGNOU, make an analysis of academic programs, and apply the SWOC method for programs analysis.The authors suggest for maintaining quality services in the competitive Open and Distance Learning market.In Chapter 3, Demiray, Nagy and Yilmaz discuss comparative strategies betweenTurkey and Australia in quality assessment, and program development. The authors briefly describe the 4 P (product, price, promotion, and place) approach and Bologna Process. In Chapter 4, written by Shaik, the relevance of the relationship marketing paradigm to student recruitment and retention in distance learning programs isdescribed. An alternative theoretical framework is proposed based onorganizational approach to errors in decision making. The case study is presented. In Chapter 5 Unsal and Ruzgar propose treating online education as a form of ecommerce.They review the evolution of online education and then introduce a marketing model to effectively create online programs.Advertising, Promotion, Intellectual Property Issues and Collaborative Distance Education Section II starts from Chapter 6, where the concept of advertising and advertising campaign is presented by Sabuncuoglu and Gokalirer.In Chapter 7 Wang analyses the marketing and promoting online adult education.Future trends also discussed. 257Ozturk, in Chapter 8, examines the characteristics of the public relations applications on the web sites of the universities offering distance education opportunities. Cuadrado-Garcia and Ruiz-Molina, in Chapter 9, introduce e-learning as a pedagogical resource. They describe a collaboration e-learning project between two European universities in the scope of the agreements in the European Union.They explain the research authors undertook on student satisfaction with the online activities in the Moodle virtual learning environment and its influence on student performance. In Chapter 10, prepared by Richardson, Lane and Hancock, the intellectualproperty issues are described, which is very important when distance learning courses become globalised.Marketing in Global ContextSection III starts from Chapter 11, which describes the global marketing for local distance education programs, prepared by Kurubacak. The functional model for global marketing characterized by multicultural decision making task is presented in this Chapter. Telli Yamamoto, in Chapter 12, overviews the marketing implications of e-learning in a globalised context. In Chapter 13, Ojo examines the marketing of e-learning and challenges facing distance education in Africa. This chapter also examines the socio-political and economic factors limiting its effectiveness on the continent. The marketing distance education in Afrika is described. Guessoum, in Chapter 14, makes a focus on progress in online education in the Arab World. The author underlined the challenges to online learning in the Arab world. In Chapter 15, a new model for global online learning is proposed based on current international research and literature in this field. The model proposed by Linder-Vanberschot, Borden and Pagels. The authors also describe the learnercharacteristics.In Chapter 16, Rajesh from Indira Ghandi University expands Sir John Daniels‘ concept of movement from the triangle-pentagon to an octagon. That is, to the pentagon of Access, Quality, Cost, Governance, Relevance, Rajesh adds Equity, Market Orientation and Consumer Satisfaction to form an octagon that represents the important aspects of distance education. This chapterdescribes IGNOU and its participation in these processes.Marketing of Language Teaching via Distance And Online ProgramsSection IV starts from Chapter 17, which reviews the marketing ways, strategies and applications of English Language Teaching (ELT) programs and products via distance education. Marketing of distance education also have been analyzed. The two Turkish cases are presented by Usun and Komur. In Chapter 18, presented by Mirici, marketing of the distance foreign language education is dealt with focusing on three main target groups as: learners, teachers; and teacher trainers.Three Specific Case Studies From Turkey In Section V three specific case studies from Turkey are presented: in health care field (Chapter 19), Open Education Faculty in Turkey (Chapter 20) and Anadolu University‘s Distance education services (Chapter 21).Argan and Argan, in Chapter 19, provides an overview and discussion of virtual communities in health care. In this Chapter the state of marketing implications in virtual communities in the health care sector is reviewed. The case study method was used.Gokdag, in Chapter 20, is trying to explain the teaching-learning services that organized by private sector for Open Education Faculty students in Turkey. Anadolu University Open Education faculty is described. The students‘ reasons for attending to private course are analysed. Kumtepe, Ataizi, Caliskan, Uztug and Aydin, in Chapter 21, present the Anadolu University, the Anadolu University‘s distance education services. Authors describe the marketing strategy at Anadolu University. The list of e-certificate programs ispresented.Lessons Learned and Literature ReviewIn Section VI, Chapter 22, Demiray explores the role and scope of marketing and its applications in the field of open and distance education. Demiray finalizes the book with the literature review on Marketing in online education.The book overviews the distance education in Turkey, USA, Africa, UAE, Spain, UK and India. The book provides very useful information about marketing strategies in online education. Specialists working in this field could apply the marketing for better introductionof their courses online. Suggestion for coming books: to prepare the list of Abbreviations and indexing for whole book, which will help reader to find the explanations easily.Natalija LEPKOVA is Associate Professor at Vilnius GediminasTechnical University (VGTU), Lithuania, at the Civil EngineeringFaculty, at the Department of Construction Economics and PropertyManagement. She is also tutor of distance learning studies at theDepartment of Construction Economics and Property Management atVGTU. She has more than 20 research publications. Some of herpublications are included in ISI database. In 2008 (September) withco-author she published a book ―Facilities Management: theory and practice‖ in Lithuanian language. According to Erasmus exchange program Dr. Lepkova is giving a lectures in Finland, Denmark, Italy, Turkey. She is a member of Association of Lithuanian Construction Engineers.URL: http://www.vgtu.ltURL: http://www.sentvk.st.vgtu.lt/en/DARBUOTOJO_CV/101328Phone: +370 687 58936,E-mail: Natalija.Lepkova@st.vgtu.lt |
|