In contrast, the Midwestern Higher Education Commission, which includes 827 public and private colleges and universities in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin, recently surveyed a representative sample of member institutions to evaluate the extent to which computer-mediated instructional materials were being used. The Commission discovered that such materials were rarely used in classrooms. This pattern has prompted many higher education administrators to feel that, if a college or university is not already in the competition to deliver on-line instructional material, it is probably too late to get into the game. There is no question that technology is changing the paradigm of all of education. Technology does not just allow for courses to be taught differently than those in conventional classrooms, it requires that they be taught differently.
Technology shifts the emphasis from teaching to learning.
Furthermore, it provides access to an education for all people of all ages, regardless of their physical location. This is especially important in largely rural states such as Nebraska. The use of distance education is not new. The University of Nebraska developed an independent-study high school which was accredited in 1929 to offer a high school diploma. For decades, the major clientele for this diploma was made up of sons and daughters of servicemen and women and diplomats stationed overseas.