Academic Freedom in Online Learning

Distance learning, and in particular online learning, has made tertiary education more accessible globally. ¹ Examples of “open universities” have proliferated around the world as ways of delivering higher education (HE) more flexibly, affordably, and with the aim to reach remote and marginalized groups. ² Distance and online learning provision has been pursued both by Global South countries typically seeking to rapidly and efficiently scale up the availability of HE and by Global North countries seeking to extend access to their programs at the national level and to increase access and revenue at the international level, also through the provision of affiliated teaching centers in other countries. This latter form is often termed “transnational education” (TNE), which denotes circumstances where “the learners are located in a country different from the one where the awarding institution is based” ³ ; this includes branch campuses, “fly-in” faculty, and distance or online learning. Data for the UK shows that there are nearly 700,000 students registered in UK programs overseas. ⁴ This is part and parcel of a broader phenomenon called HE internationalization. ⁵