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Summary

The attraction of online education are the opportunities to impact more students’ lives, service a wider audience, and create a new, potentially lucrative revenue source. The dangers are the potential problems and pitfalls lurking around every corner.

In order to successfully navigate these tricky waters and minimize risk, you need to first determine what you’re comfortable doing yourself, and what you’d prefer to leave to the experts. That and knowing where the most common and costly mistakes are can give you a tremendous advantage (not to mention a sense of comfort).

Undeniable trend: there are more and more schools coming online every month. Therefore, it’s more important than ever to differentiate yourself by curriculum, content, service, online marketing, or even better, all of the above. If you do all that, or find someone who can help you achieve that goal, you have no reason to fear competition.

I also strongly recommend not sitting on the sidelines. Online education is changing at a dizzying pace. The longer you wait to dive in, the harder it is going to be to catch up. Even if you start with a hybrid program where half the program is taught online and the rest in the classroom, you will be better off than watching from the sidelines while the larger online learning providers pick off your summer school enrollments or adult learner audience or worse.

Paul Jacobelli is founder and CEO of EdTek Services, Inc. He has been “in the trenches” of online education since 1996. He was both a client and a Regional Director during the explosive growth of eCollege. After helping to launch some of the biggest players in distance learning, he now works exclusively with small colleges, career schools and non-profit organizations. His varied client list includes the Allen School, Bay State College, Green Mountain College, the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, West Suburban College of Nursing and Ethicon Endo-Surgery. Products and services provided by EdTek include Learning and Course Management Systems, curriculum, online faculty and faculty training, 24 x 7 x 365 Help Desk and technology support, and enrollment marketing. If you are considering a distance education program for your institution or entity, EdTek offers a complimentary 17-Point Online Opportunities Analysis, including recommendations on which courses to offer. If you are already online, EdTek Services offers a free Online Program Audit that can help you determine if you’re overpaying and by how much.