"Program access refers to accessing individual degree, certificate, or certification programs at the institutional level." Some examples of strategies for improving program access and "reaching learners in new and better ways," include partnering with professional organizations and offering online courses during the summer months to maintain consistent connections with students. Another example stresses reaching new student populations by developing, and ultimately launching, additional online programs centered around an institution’s historic strengths. Additionally, "doing the basics well, such as providing basic information (about degree programs offered) with a minimum of barriers," is an important strategy, says Sener, who points to the Penn State World Campus, as a model of an institution with an effective online learning website that provides easy-to-navigate and substantial information to students. He also refers to the University of Maryland University College, as an institution that has an effective advertising, marketing and public relations campaign to inform prospective students about online learning, especially in the Washington, DC metro area.

"The most basic course access issue is providing accurate and complete course information to current and prospective students," says Sener. Surprisingly, many institutions offering online learning classes have not mastered this simple access issue, which entails providing detailed course information online to both prospective and currently enrolled students. Sener points to the Northern Virginia Community College Extended Learning Institute as a model institution that provides "a fairly comprehensive view of a course online before you actually take a course. You can look at the objectives of the course and get everything up front," including complete course syllabi, guides and policies and procedures.

Sener also explains that effective course access also means providing easy and improved access to a course once a student is actually enrolled. For example, the overuse of plug-ins inside an online course, such as the variety of multi-media players, can cause confusion for students. One way of eliminating the overuse of plug-ins is being accomplished at the University of Illinois-Springfield through the utilization of a software product called Impatica, which converts Powerpoint lectures to digital format with narration, animation and interactive capabilities, and cuts down on student frustration with plug-ins.

Sener says the area of administrative services "is advancing fairly rapidly, becoming more comprehensive as more institutions become more proficient in practice." He mentions, among other institutions, Rio Salado’s "Systems Approach to Online Learning," which is outlined at the Sloan-C website and also within a Pew Learning and Technology Program study titled "Innovation in Online Learning: Moving Beyond No Significant Difference" by Carol Twigg.

"Institutions are confronted with a variety of access-related issues, such as server and portal reliability and other technical support functions," says Sener, adding that the University of South Queensland (USQ) is a leader in this area through its e-University project. "Key elements of the project include incorporating the use of automated response systems and intelligent databases in the context of Internet-based delivery. This project will enable USQ to use technology to automate certain aspects of interaction with students, increasing access to higher education on a global scale."

Providing access to resources that facilitate learning success is a broad topic that encompasses many facets of online learning. When he discusses the topic of learning resources, Sener mentions the facilitation of interaction between faculty and learners, the formation of learning communities, the availability of support content, the emerging area of learning-assessment tools, and the issue of what he calls "learner-centered access."

In relation to both learning assessment tools and learner-centered access, he provides examples of self-assessment resources from an Ohio State University Introductory Statistics Course that offers a "wide array of learning options," including one where "students complete learning-style and student-skills assessments which they can use to build online course contracts that specify how they plan to complete their coursework." Another self-assessment resource is used by Stanford University inside "courselets" that "offer self-tests to enable students to assess their level of knowledge on an ongoing basis."

Sener adds that "a lot of what online learning is about is what would happen if you made it so the learner could choose when and what he or she wants to study? The philosophy behind it is rather radical because it says, in effect, that the students get a lot more say, or at least as much say, in determining what it is that they learn."

A question that arises under such circumstances is how are learning outcomes presumed to be achieved in any given class? Should the methods for achieving learning outcomes be stipulated by the faculty and institution down to the letter? Or, should the student decide how learning outcomes are met? "As learners become adept at this, they should have more choices," says Sener, pointing to the Ohio State University example. "However, it is not all about the learner; it is about the learning process. There is always a balance to be negotiated. And the balance depends in part on the various skills and attributes of the learning participants involved."

"Improved access in rural areas is particularly needed," says Sener, in relation to the future of online learning. High speed Internet connections, although growing, are still far from being ubiquitous across the country.

Sener also explains that the growth of new and cheaper electronic devices, such as the wealth of PDAs now available and new mobile technology, could have a significant impact on where and how people access online learning. At Helsinki University, for instance, a project called "UniWrap" is looking at mobile technology’s pedagogical applications.

Overall, Sener concludes that access is really an issue that is both expansive and foundational. "There is almost no aspect of the educational online learning enterprise that does not have an access-related issue. Access is sort of everywhere; it is inherent in all of this because if they can’t get to it; if students can’t access online learning at some level, then it does not mean anything, and it can’t be effective."

As a fundamental issue, Sener says "enabling prospective learners to be aware of the learning opportunities available to them and to assess the potential worth of these opportunities" is of the utmost importance.