ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to predict where research in online and blended learning is going and some of the issues it is facing. Online learning as conceived today started in the 1990s, with the Internet and World Wide Web. The colleges and universities most interested in online learning during the beginning decade were those that had established distance education programs using other modalities such as television, radio, and course packs. The massive open online course (MOOC) model was grounded in improving student access to higher education and cost effectiveness. As the MOOC phenomenon took off, a closer examination of the pedagogical basis of the course design was made by faculty and instructional designers, many of whom were experienced online learning developers. Research in online and blended learning will, by the nature of change, have to be opportunistic, because innovations happen rapidly in this new environment.
