My thoughts were wandering the other day to the many discussions entertained on the purpose of learning. On one hand, it is about personal development - pure and simple. Learning enhances both capabilities and capacities. It opens doors for the individual to be prosperous and fulfilled. Learning broadens the mind and stretches the imagination.

But in most cases it requires a vehicle to accomplish that wonderfully altruistic and self-serving end. That vehicle often comes in the form of an organization, either corporate or educational, that has bottom line objectives to meet.

Higher Education is now ready to deploy the vehicle of online learning. Yes, it is true that significant online learning has been around for a decade, however, many institutions - especially smaller ones, have avoided a serious commitment to the online learning event. According to the recent Sloan report "Online Nation," online learning enrollments are growing at six times that of traditional enrollments. This translates into a three-way win that must be explored and smaller private colleges and universities should pay attention.

First and foremost in my mind, the learner wins. The learner is often the returning adult student who is seeking completion of a degree once started years ago. We find that adult learner coming to higher education with multiple transcripts representing successful education attempts with unsuccessful completion. The adult learner is driven to finish, excel and find a new level of occupational upward mobility. It is that same learner who becomes 51% of the enrollment in higher education by 2010 according to the U.S. Department of Education.

The Educational institution that embraces online learning technology is the second winner in this endeavor. With enrollment growth nation-wide of 9.7 percent this translates into a full boundary-less extension of institutional mission. It also translates into increased revenues especially as that institution moves beyond course-by-course deployment and into fully developed program and degree deployment. Retention rates are high as are persistence rates to degree completion. However, barriers still exist. Faculty often wonder if online learning will change the nature of the institution - it will. They also appropriately concern themselves with academic integrity and the apparent lack of control when moving online. Academic integrity can be assured with proper curricular design and the nature of control is not less - but it is different. Paradigms must continue to shift.

Finally, the corporation wins through educational partnerships. The advent of programmatic online learning means increased flexibility for the workforce and increased access. When the educational content goes through a transformation, it is much like Lewin's state of "unfreezing." As that happens, the corporate world can exercise influence on the curriculular content development to assure true business goals and objectives are met in the process. This success relies on a significant level of communication and relationship between both the educational institution and corporation.