Opportunities and Obstacles: Technology’s Potential for Expanding Access to Higher Education

Abstract

Innovative technologies have forever impacted the field of education by connecting any topic in any discipline to any learner in any place. This new reality provides vastly expanded possibilities for international collaboration, knowledge building, sharing of best practices, and new ways to teach, both within the classroom and without. Nevertheless, even as new modes of providing education proliferate, the digital divide also grows, making technology solutions for expanding access a continuing issue of debate. This article looks at trends and challenges for expanding access to higher education via technology. Specifically it will address how the role of infrastructure, fiscal restraints, and culture relate to differences in accessibility and the application of technology in higher education. Through an overview of current use of technologies in differing educational contexts, the article analyzes some examples that either support or oppose the idea of promoting technology as an effective tool for facilitating equality of access.