Online Education Market Research - Essay Example

?Running Head: online education market reserach Online Education Market Research of the of the of the ] [Course] Executive Summary The role of online universities in taking education to the next level can be considered as a great sign of adding value to the existing conventional education industry. A number of universities offering conventional learning environment have been offering online courses to strike the right balance between the personal, professional and educational lives of students across the globe (Allen, Seaman, 2003). DeVry University is one of those universities that have been offering online courses and great learning environment to students from different parts of the world. The research aims at highlighting the role of online courses in changing the conventional trend of education system along with adding value to the education system. For this purpose, the research has been designed in a logical manner covering different points. The researcher has formulated research questions and objectives that will be achieved through primary and secondary data analysis. The research methodology is based on antipositivist research philosophy, inductive research approach and primary and secondary data analysis that assist each other in a great manner. Questionnaires will be designed to seek views and opinions of respondents on the research topic along with in-depth interviews based on snow ball sampling to understand and analyze the beliefs and opinions of respondents on online courses and overall usefulness and feasibility. At the same time, few hypotheses have been formulated that will be tested against the views and opinions of respondents in a critical manner. Based on the overall analysis, certain recommendations and conclusions will be formed that will help in understanding whether the proposed aim and objectives of the research have been achieved or not. Overall, the research has been designed in a logical and descriptive manner that will help in understanding the impact and influence of online courses in a significant manner. Introduction Life often offers a number of opportunities that are often accepted or rejected on the basis of priorities. Education can be considered as one of the most important priorities that is affected by lack of time and few other priorities like jobs, family look out and lack of sources and resources. In this regard, online courses have emerged as a savior for a number of students willing to learn along with adding value to their life in a desired manner (Nagy, 2005). When having a busy schedule; sometimes, it becomes hard to attend college and with little flexibility being offered by colleges, students tend to miss their important lectures along with missing valuable learning. However, with the advent of the online courses and learning, things have been changing at a rapid pace with a number of students willing to opt for such courses offering them a flexibility of striking a right balance between their education, personal and professional lives. The research aims at identifying the importance and worth of online courses in changing the conventional trend in the university education industry along with identifying ways to improve the quality of online courses and learning. In order to achieve the research aim, these objectives have been formulated: To identify the role of online courses in the conventional university education industry To analyze the acceptance and benefits of online courses along with identifying ways for improving them The research questions formulated for this purpose are; will the online course become the new trend in the university education industry and how to provide better online courses to university students along with finding ways to manage and meeting the expectations of students in a desired manner. Organization Background The organization chosen for the research purpose if DeVry University that is the parent organization for Keller Graduate School of Management and many other colleges. The school was founded in early 30s and has more than 90 campuses across North America and offers degrees in technology, management, science, business and arts. The University also offers online courses to students finding it difficult to balance their personal, professional and education lives. A number of initiatives have been taken in order to assist students for selecting the right course along with guiding them in an effective manner. The university has experienced staffs willing to assist at every level right from selecting the right course to availing financial benefits and loans in a convenient manner. The University is one of the most trusted and valued education organizations in the US with a number of students being a part of the University. There is no denying that with huge presence and plethora of courses on offer; DeVry University has created a name for itself in the competitive education industry. With a number of options to pursue higher education through distance learning, DeVry University has opened a new door for a number of students finding it difficult to balance their lives. Marketing Context There is very little doubt over the rise and acceptance of online courses as a true savior in creating a much needed balance between the personal, professional and educational lives of students across the world. However, when we talk about the rise of online courses, it can be supported with facts and figures collected from any website. However, the real question is whether online courses have the appeal to attract students along with meeting their expectations and aspirations in a significant manner. In order to understand this part; it is important to identify the segments of the market that can be targeted and accordingly products and services can be positioned (Wolfe, Wolfe, 2001). The product here is online courses that are growing in acceptance considering the pressure exerted by the families and peer groups in order to enhance core competencies and gain competitive advantage that will lead to professional success in the present as well as in the future (Hiltz, 1990). A number of Universities like Colorado Technical University, George Washington University, Boston University, Ashford University and Florida Tech University along with a number of other universities have been offering online courses on different subjects. More importantly, this trend is not limited to the US only but to many parts of the world where education is valued and considered as a mode of empowering the people and the country through learning and sharing (Bates, 2005) One of the most interesting things regarding online courses is the amount of convenience and flexibility offered by them. Moreover, the content of courses and modules are very much similar. However, the quality of support, cooperation and coordination differentiates the whole act and offerings of such products and services. It is important to understand the need and demands of students along with guiding them in an effective, efficient and professional manner. A number of universities like DeVry University has professional bunch of people assisting students on selecting the right course, advising them on the financial aspect, counseling on needs and demands of the course and professional career guidance. It can be said that the marketing initiatives of DeVry University has been spot on in terms of offering wide arrays of services under one umbrella attracting students along with offering them the confidence of choosing the right course for themselves in order to achieve career goals and objectives. The next part of the discussion presents marketing issues that will help in formulating research questions and methodology to achieve the proposed research objectives. Marketing Issues The first question that comes into the mind regarding the marketing of online courses is acceptance and utility in the education industry and amongst students willing to learn while offering full time to their personal and professional commitments. The research questions the acceptance of online courses in the competitive education industry in terms of acceptance and becoming a new trend along with questioning the initiatives of universities in making online courses to be accepted by students in terms of benefits and usefulness by managing them well along with fulfilling student’s expectations. The primary reason behind formulating these questions was to identify the usefulness and acceptance of online courses amongst students along with comparing the same with the conventional educational courses being offered by a number of universities. For this purpose few hypotheses have been formulated. These hypotheses are as follow: H1: Online Courses have better utility and usefulness compared to conventional courses requiring physical presence. H2: Online Courses do not have better utility and usefulness compared to conventional courses requiring physical presence. H3: Online courses meet student’s expectations in a better manner H4: Online courses do not meet student’s expectations in a better manner The formulated hypotheses will be assessed and analyzed after analyzing the views and opinions of respondents collected through questionnaires and interviews. The behaviour and preferences of respondents will help in accepting or rejecting these hypotheses along with forming conclusions that will later help in achieving the proposed research aim and objectives in a logical manner. Research Methodology In order to achieve the proposed aim and objectives of the research; research methodology has been designed in a logical manner. The research methodology includes: Research Philosophy- Hussey and Hussey (1997) stated that research philosophies can be classified as positivist and antipositivist. Weber (2004) stated that positivist philosophy tries to find the reality that is beyond human mind based on the reality that offers knowledge. On the other hand, antipositivist philosophy is based on analyzing human emotions and perceptions through the interpretation of their beliefs and ideas. The research requires thorough analysis of human emotions, preferences and acceptance and thus antipositivist research philosophy has been chosen as an ideal research philosophy. Research Approach- Burney (2008) classified research approaches as inductive and deductive. Inductive research approach is based on specific to general while deductive research approach is based on general to specific. Inductive research approach is based in observations while deductive research approach is based on laws, principles and rules. The researcher favors inductive research approach as it is associated with the observation requires assessing the preference of students for online courses. Data Collection Methods- Saunders, et al (2007) stated that data can be collected from two sources; primary and secondary sources. Primary data are first hand data collected through questionnaires, interviews and surveys while secondary data are collected through academic books, journals and past research papers that have been published in the past. The research includes both primary and secondary data where primary data will be collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews while secondary data will be collected through academic books, journals and past research papers. The primary reason behind selecting questionnaires as the preferred data collection method was limitation in the form of budget and more importantly it is economical and easy to analyze the views and opinions of respondents. Sampling- Sampling is based on selecting samples from the total available population. Sampling can be classified under snow ball, self selection and random selection. The research favors snow ball sampling method where few respondents will be identified along with asking to identify few more respondents. It is a chain building process through which respondents are identified in a great manner. The researcher aims at identifying fifty respondents for questionnaires who will be contacted through e-mails. The researcher will also mail the consent form and invitation letter to participate in the research. Based on the confirmation, questionnaires will be mailed and information will be analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The same process will be for interviews where five interviewees will be identified to conduct interviews at a mutually decided place. After receiving views and opinions, whole data will be analyzed in a critical manner to test the hypotheses. Limitations The major limitation of the research is the number of respondents that will represent a particular set of students belonging to one particular area. It is not feasible to access and collect information from different universities so the results may carry biasness. However, the primary purpose of the research is to identify the importance and acceptance of online courses that can be ascertained through views and opinions of these respondents to an extent. In order to reduce this biasness, the researcher has formulated research questions that are based on the preference, utility and acceptance of online courses rather than comparing them with the conventional educational programs that may offer large number of bias opinions. References Allen, I.E. and Seaman, J. (2003) “Sizing the Opportunity: The Quality and Extent of Online Education in the United States”, 2002 and 2003 Wellesley, MA: The Sloan Consortium Bates, A. (2005) “Technology, e-Learning and Distance Education” London: Routledge Burney, S.M. (2008) “Inductive and Deductive Research Approach Department of Computer Science”, University of Karachi Hiltz, S. (1990) ‘Evaluating the Virtual Classroom’, in Harasim, L. (ed.) Online Education: Perspectives on a New Environment New York: Praeger, pp. 133–169 Hussey, J. and Hussey, R. (1997) “Business Research. A Practical Guide for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students”, Palgrave: Basingstoke. Nagy, A. (2005). “The Impact of E-Learning”, in: Bruck, P.A.; Buchholz, A.; Karssen, Z.; Zerfass, A. (Eds). E-Content: Technologies and Perspectives for the European Market. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, pp. 79–96 Saunders. M, Lewis. P, Thornhill. M (2007) “Research Book for Business Students”, Princeton Publishers Weber, R. (2004) “The rhetoric of positivism versus interpretevism”: A Personal View. MIS Quarterly, Vol. 28 Issue 1, preceding p1-1, 10p, 1 Chart Wolfe, C., & Wolfe, C. R. (2001). “Learning and teaching on the world wide web”. San Diego, Calif. ; London: Academic. Read More