From On-Air to On-Line: Challenges in Institutional Paradigm Shift at the Open University of Japan

Though online education has become commonplace in higher education in U.S., it’s still not very common in higher education in Japan, primarily due to the fact that the organizational structures of higher education institutions are too rigid and inertia prevails in their day-to-day operations. In this presentation, as a case study of the institutional struggle in offering online courses in a university in Japan, the recent attempts by the Open University of Japan (OUJ), the only open university which broadcast its courses over the air, to offer its first online courses, are described and the issues of Japanese higher education institutions as well as the unique characteristics of OUJ are discussed to give audience the cultural and organizational frameworks in considering higher education in Japan.