Changes in demography, developments in information technology including tele-communications, new thinking on pedagogy and new institutional or organisational policy are radically altering the concepts of what it means to be a student, to learn, to teach and to be a teacher. It seems to me that there are now three types of players on the scene, as far as providers are concerned. First, there are traditional distance providers such as OUHK, which know this sector best, and which are well experienced in the modes of delivery and the management of these courses. In Hong Kong, we have seen an influx of overseas institutions offering their programs here. It is therefore a question as to how the different players can complement each other, how they will compete, and how they can collaborate.
All consumers buy their products at a distance.
So there is the extreme view that the reach of technology is such that, in time, there will only be a handful of higher educational providers in the whole world, and all consumers will buy from them at a distance. Those who aspire to be among the dominant players are scrambling for market share. This scenario throws up a number of very important issues for open and distance education, not only for institutions such as OUHK, but for all providers of higher education. The more obvious ones revolve around technology, the effectiveness of different modes of delivery and student satisfaction. All these questions need to be looked into.