| Many questions are about determining the costs and revenues of new programs, projecting costs for new investments, or comparing the costs of different technology-mediated course designs and formats. We seem to be moving beyond the traditional comparisons of on-campus and online environments, so that people want to know more about making better decisions and better investments.
Getting Started: Where can you go for guidance and answers to questions about determining the costs and revenues of new programs, projecting costs for new investments, or comparing the costs of different technology-mediated course designs and formats? First, ask yourself these three questions to help you select the most helpful resources: 1. At what level are you asking the cost question? Is it for an external constituency? A group at the institutional level? Or, is it a department-level or working group level question? The answer to this question determines the scope of your costing question. 2. What outcomes are you measuring? Costs are only one part of the picture and should not be looked at without also including the outcomes. Many institutions look to online learning to meet goals such as increasing retention, increasing throughput (e.g., more alumni, faster graduation rates), increasing diversity in the student body, enhancing brand, improving pedagogy, containing or reducing costs, or generating surplus revenue. The answer to the outcomes question is critical for determining what you are measuring your costs against. 3. What is the nature of your cost question? Most cost questions focus on either cost-effectiveness such as cost per point gain on a test, cost-benefit such as cost per dollar value of increasing access, cost feasibility such as the costs of different learning management systems, or return on investment such how fast you will recoup your development costs of a new program.
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