5 Leadership in Distance Education Vision Is Vital
Kim Myrick and Denise Stockley
Distance education in Canadian higher education emerged as a formal option in the second half of the 20th century. University leadership at the time often positioned distance education as an extension service, meaning that it was recognized largely as something outside the main structure of academic units, instructors, and on-campus learning. With a focus on technology, one option was to establish separate units or departments responsible for the design, development, and delivery of credit courses and degree programs via distance education. A distance education unit engaged or contracted instructors to design and develop courses and programs, and it made offerings to students through educational technologies. Because of this distinct separation, instructors and students in distance education were displaced from the traditional university teaching and learning experience.
Now, in the 21st century, Canadian universities have had to shift at times to being virtual campuses, particularly in times of crisis or disruption, when everyone involved in the learning process has had to participate remotely and thus adapt to approaches of distance education. Centres for teaching and learning (CTLs) have assumed a lead role to support sudden transitions between traditional on-campus classes and remote learning. This has been largely because of their functions in supporting online learning and on-campus courses and the teaching of faculty and instructional staff. These functions are separate within CTLs, with online learning evolving from distance education as a function distinct from on-campus education. However, shifts between modes of delivery are blurring the functions of CTLs and the roles of their instructional designers, educational developers, and technology and multimedia experts.
Reflecting on our own role as women leaders in the field of higher education, in particular distance education and CTLs, we recognize that there have been significant changes in our 30-plus years in the field. When we started in the field, we operated in a space where the traditional correspondence models of distance education were prevalent, and leadership was dominated by men. However, as the field shifted to more online learning offered through CTLs, women-oriented leadership began to prevail at our institutions.
Many CTLs in Canada today are led by women able to leverage talent quickly to develop creative solutions, especially in disruptive and unstable environments. A crisis is a strong driver of creativity, innovation, and change (Zenger & Folkman, 2020). Women leaders are a driving force behind this creativity. The leadership style of women has been described as creative, democratic, caring, ethical, and collaborative (Acker, 2012; Kloot, 2004; Offermann & Foley, 2020). These characteristics have empowered effective and sustainable innovation and will be vital in the future of distance education. The Harvard Business Review argued that women are more effective leaders in times of crisis because of their ability to pivot, build relationships, and communicate while developing new skills (Zenger & Folkman, 2020). These characteristics and skills are needed at universities in new environments in which distance education merges with the broader function of teaching and learning.
With movement between delivery models of education, we see that the lines have shifted dramatically, and past differences between learning environments have become blurred. Distance education is more relevant to teaching and learning, and there is thus an opportunity to embrace these times and the new-found relevance and place of distance education in higher education.
A strong institutional vision is vital to shift the position of distance education within a university. We believe that having a clear vision is critical for people to continue to engage with teaching and learning.
As women leaders in teaching and learning in higher education, we take a systems approach to institutional vision by applying six essential elements of vision: performance, purpose, people, place, product, and period (of time). Research by Myrick and Kelloway (2018) suggests that these “six Ps” lead to a vision that will allow universities to effectively integrate distance education into the orthodox system of academic offerings.
In this chapter, we apply the six Ps as a conceptual framework to changes within distance education. We draw from our research in system approaches and leadership, our experience in teaching and learning, as well as our common knowledge of one Canadian CTL that evolved from a distance education unit with a legacy of leadership in the field. We share this knowledge through earlier research involving its history as a distance education unit and leadership experience through its transition to a CTL (Stockley, 2002, 2004). The CTL began as a distance education unit in the late 1960s and was responsible for the design, development, and delivery of credit courses and degree programs via distance learning. As a CTL, it has been recognized internationally for its approach to supporting teaching and learning.
By taking this approach, we recognize that the work of distance education is not isolated within the institution. Using the six Ps of vision, we articulate the key elements of repositioning distance education from being on the periphery to having a more integrated role in teaching and learning and how this shift has allowed for a smoother transition to remote learning during times of disruption. The six Ps of vision are evolving for distance education from a focus on it as an extension service of a university to an integration into the teaching and learning function of higher education. CTLs are the conduit for this integration. Articulating this evolution in this manner is a meaningful contribution to a leadership vision for the future of distance education in higher education.
Performance
The first P is how an institution is seen to exist in terms of its level of performance. A vision conveys an ideal state of performance, such as portraying an institution as being a leader in its industry or sector now and in the future. A traditional distance education unit has a legacy of leadership providing students with flexibility in time and location to complete courses and programs at a distance. This leadership has been separate from that of academic disciplines, and thus instructors and students have been outside the traditional university teaching and learning experience.
CTLs evolved distance education to deliver online courses to a broader range of students (online and on campus). However, students learning at a distance have continued to receive the same experience of distance education, and they can pay an extra fee to study at a distance. Universities do not deliver the experience of the greater student population in terms of on-campus supports and services. In this way, universities are not performing at the highest level.
Performance is often highlighted during times of crisis that require a shift to remote instruction. On-campus students deprived of what they have known as the “university experience” can question paying full tuition for what is perceived as a diminished experience. This can have an impact on university enrolment. The challenge is not just to deliver classes remotely but also to deliver an experience that has significant value, thereby attracting and retaining students.
During times of disruption or crisis, we have led our teams to act as first responders for the continuation of effective teaching and student success. Our role as women leaders has been to ensure a high level of performance by nurturing instructor-student relationships and ensuring that all voices have been heard and acted upon as appropriate. A key priority has been to advise on planning for remote courses and to connect instructors to CTLs’ support services for instructional and technological solutions. We have initiated new support services, assigning senior instructional designers and educational developers to academic units. We have also collaborated with non-academic units to adjust on-campus services for online delivery.
As women leaders, we see that our performance ensures the successful future of distance education programs. Leading organizations with diverse team members, we leverage individuals’ talents and are more likely to succeed (Offermann & Foley, 2020). The ability to develop creative solutions, multitask, and work collaboratively is critical to delivering higher-quality programs and services.
Purpose
The second P is why an institution exists in terms of its operational focus (e.g., to develop, deliver, or support a program or service). A vision states a purpose to give direction on what an institution can do to achieve a desired performance. Purpose guides decisions and actions to achieve outcomes intended to enhance performance.
Student participation in university courses and programs and faculty-student interactions are aspects of a university that define its purpose. In traditional distance education, student participation and interaction with other students and faculty are limited. Since these interactions operate in a different space, faculty members and students relate differently to the purpose of a university.
CTLs have evolved over time to contribute more to the mission of educators and the success of students. Through continuous adaptation to the academic community and its needs, our core activities have grown to include not only online course/program development and delivery but also administration of the university’s learning management system, use of educational media and technologies in classrooms, and professional development programming and training for educators.
We have observed that the reasons a university exists operate in different spaces for all educators, staff, and students during times of crisis or change, displacing a university’s purpose. Universities face seismic shifts in how they do things when they shift to fully remote instruction. All faculty members, students, and staff alike are disrupted in their sense of why their universities exist.
As leaders of teaching and learning, we have found ourselves at the centre of disruption. We have recognized the gap in the teaching and learning experience at a distance and been forced to fill it. We have organized staff immediately to create an unprecedented number of resources and webinars on remote learning, communication, student support, community building, feedback, and so on.
Universities benefit when they are seen as leaders in innovation. Innovation is needed to grow and develop the purpose of universities in new directions at a distance. Women have proven to be effective leaders in this area through times of disruption and crisis. As the field of distance education changes, we feel well positioned to lead innovation to re-establish the purpose of our institutions.
People
The third P refers to the who of an institution, both internal and external stakeholders. A vision references key stakeholders who contribute to or benefit from the purpose of an institution. References to stakeholders can help them to identify with an institution and influence them to interact in a purposeful manner.
The primary stakeholders of a university are its students and faculty members, detached from the physical environment and the greater institution in distance education. Instructors have a responsibility outside their academic units and programs, implying a separation between their on-campus teaching and their teaching at a distance. Students interact with the CTL and can be classified as a group of “other” students under an extension service.
During times of instructional disruption or crisis, all students and faculty members can be compelled to teach and learn at a distance with no sense of how to transition and engage with each other. They have no time or plan to detach from one environment and immerse themselves in another. As caring, supportive leaders, we have kicked into action during these times to provide resources and supports critical for students stressed by disruptions to how they learn and for faculty and staff distraught from unknown and unfamiliar teaching methods and tools.
We have recognized the importance of developing strong relationships not only in times of disruption but also in distance education. As women leaders, we have seen the need to provide warm and comforting support to remote instructors and students, alone and displaced from their environments and interactions. This human connection is an ethical and caring solution that provides people with a sense of unity (Kloot, 2004). As a result, it is important to the ongoing offering of distance education.
Place
The fourth P is where an institution exists (i.e., in which environments, e.g., geographic, workplace, infrastructural, or technological). Stakeholders receive direction on the environments in which they perform and fulfill their purpose.
Distance education is delivered through various technologies. They provide instructors and students with a sense of place unique from the geographic location of a physical campus. The traditional services and supports are not replicated for distance students or instructors.
A major disruption to instruction significantly affects a university’s sense of place as defined by geographic location. Creating a sense of place is a challenge with everyone learning in different locations. Moreover, distinguishing a unique sense of place within a common virtual space with other universities requires significant investments in service delivery.
As women leaders, we have fostered a sense of community at a distance through online forums, webinars, and gatherings of instructors and students, providing a sense of place to come together. We have supported instructors to develop online spaces and discussions for students in courses. We have also provided the online ability and support to bring student life services to students. Overall, we have been creative with the resources that we have available.
Product
The fifth P is the what of an institution, what it develops, delivers, or supports. This information can differentiate an institution from similar institutions.
A major product of a university is its teaching and learning experience for faculty members and students. The delivery of this product through technology alters the format of the content and the learning experience since it is not delivered in the same way by instructors or experienced in the same way by students.
Since universities’ main “product” offerings are courses and programs as well as faculty-student interactions, they are largely adapted during times of disruption or crisis when in-person classes can be cancelled and moved to remote environments. With different time zones and technologies for students, universities need creative and flexible options for faculty teaching and for students to complete programs remotely. Universities have had to invest in technologies and ways to make remote teaching as accessible as possible.
CTLs have evolved to support university product offerings with a growing number of campus students taking online courses, an increasing demand for educational technology in classrooms and online teaching, and an emerging role in enhanced programming and pedagogical support for academic units and educators. Overall, CTLs are now more collaborative partners and play a central role in the academic community for teaching and learning excellence.
Additionally, CTLs have engaged with stakeholders in research through collaboration with faculty members, facilitating engagement in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Staff expertise in areas of curriculum and assessment development, educator and instructional development, and educational technology application and integration supports faculty research on new approaches to teaching and learning for dissemination to internal and external academic communities. Staff have collaborated on topics related to teaching with technology, online and alternative assessments, active learning, blended learning, academic integrity, and more recently hybrid learning.
As universities develop more CTL services to enhance their “products,” women leaders can ensure that these services are reflective of the needs of both educators and learners at a distance. Through periods of disruption and crisis, we have been able to grow and adapt the services of our CTLs that support the greater teaching and learning product of the university and integrate it into distance education.
Period (of Time)
The sixth P is when an institution realizes its vision, orienting people in time to achieve that vision. Reference to time might be intended to inspire people in the institution. People are oriented to a time frame in order to fulfill their purpose and achieve the desired performance.
In distance education, students have always had the flexibility to learn in a self-directed schedule rather than a set schedule of classes. Instructors follow a schedule of course delivery but have flexibility in when and how they interact with students. During times of disruption, instructors and students continue to participate in education on a semester basis. However, there are greater expectations that students learn on a self-directed schedule rather than a set class schedule. There are also greater expectations that instructors will support students and allow flexibility in course assignments and when and how they interact with students.
CTLs adapt quickly to times of disruption, and the resilience and creativity of women leaders help to meet the challenges of flexibility and continued interaction. It has been argued that women leaders are preferred in times of change (Offermann & Foley, 2020), and this was evident in how well women leaders adapted during sudden instructional disruption as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (Zenger & Folkman, 2020). These characteristics allow us to realize a vision in both the short term and the long term.
An Institutional Vision for the Future of Distance Education
CTLs have evolved from or with distance education in higher education. The response of CTLs to the needs of their academic communities during a crisis has been such that nimble cross-functional collaborations can provide an integrated approach to addressing the challenges of a fully remote or virtual university environment. By leveraging the resources and capabilities of a CTL, staff can be brought together to collaborate across the university and support academic units, faculty members, and students in transitioning into distance education.
An integrated and aligned vision is vital within postsecondary environments for CTLs and distance education. We can no longer separate distance education or online learning within or from the function of teaching and learning at a university. This vision is critical for the advancement of teaching and learning within higher education, and using the six Ps creates a path toward alignment.
We will continue to require a vision of innovation. Indeed, during times of disruption or crisis, universities are naturally focused on the short term. However, institutions that focus on the long term and a clear vision will experience renewed energy for new ideas as individuals feel inspired to collaborate in securing their future. At our institutions, we advocate to ensure that on-campus, online, and distance education come closer together, that their separation pragmatically and structurally does not hamper student learning.
As women leaders experienced in the field, we hope that we have demonstrated through our approach that the vision of distance education needs to be reimagined since the field has evolved. The six Ps help us to articulate the vision by identifying performance, purpose, people, place, product, and period (of time) required by our responses to disruption and crisis. Otherwise, we might run the risk of stagnating or shifting back to old ways.
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