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Distance education, or distance learning, is a field ofeducation that focuses on the pedagogy and andragogy,technology, and instructional systems design that aim todeliver education to students who are not physically "on site".According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ―is a processto create and provide access to learning when the source ofinformation and the learners are separated by time anddistance, or both.‖ In other words, distance learning is theprocess of creating an educational experience of equalqualitative value for the learner to best suit their needsoutside the classroom. Rather than attending courses inperson, teachers and students may communicate at times oftheir own choosing by exchanging printed or electronic media,or through technology that allows them to communicate inreal time and through other online ways.The purpose of marketing is to understand trends in the field and customer needs in aglobal 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 education programs 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.This book is divided into six sections, each dealing with a different aspect of marketing for distance learning programs: strategic framework of marketing for open and distance learning programs; 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. Theyargue for the importance of addressing client (student) centered needs in Open andDistance 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 has been 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 ananalysis 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 between Turkey 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 tostudent recruitment and retention in distance learning programs is described. Analternative theoretical framework is proposed based on organizational 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 EducationSection 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. Ozturk, in Chapter 8, examines the characteristics of the public relations applicationson 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 theMoodle virtual learning environment and its influence on student performance. In Chapter 10, prepared by Richardson, Lane and Hancock, the intellectual property issues are described, which is very important when distance learning courses become globalised.Marketing in Global Context Section III starts from Chapter 11, which describes the global marketing for localdistance 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 aglobalised 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 distanceeducation in Afrika is described. Guessoum, in Chapter 14, makes a focus on progress in online education in the ArabWorld. 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 learner characteristics.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 chapter describes IGNOUand its participation in these processes. Marketing of Language Teaching via Distance And Online Programs Section IV starts from Chapter 17, which reviews the marketing ways, strategies andapplications 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 is presented.Lessons Learned and Literature Review In Section VI, Chapter 22, Demiray explores the role and scope of marketing and itsapplications 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 introduction oftheir 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 Gediminas Technical University (VGTU), Lithuania, at the Civil Engineering Faculty, at theDepartment of Construction Economics and Property Management. Sheis also tutor of distance learning studies at the Department ofConstruction Economics and Property Management at VGTU. She hasmore than 20 research publications. Some of her publications areincluded in ISI database. In 2008 (September) with co-author shepublished 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 ConstructionEngineers.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 |
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