Chapter 3. Global Issues in Online Education 

This chapter discusses the geographic distributions of the analyzed institutions along with 

some observations, examples, and case studies from each continent. Finally, globalization of 

online education is discussed. 

Geographic Distribution of Institutions 

The analysis includes information from institutions in all continents. In addition to the four 

transnational institutions, the analysis includes catalogue entries from 130 institutions in 26 

countries and interviews with key persons in 72 institutions from 22 countries. In Table 2, the 

countries are sorted by number of catalogue entries per country. 

Table 2. Distribution of institutions per country 

Country Catalogue 

entries 

Interviews 

USA 20 

15,4 % 

8

11,1 % 

UK 17 

13,1 % 

11

15,3 % 

Norway 10 

7,7 % 

7

9,7 % 

Portugal 10 

7,7 % 

7

9,7 % 

Australia 9 

6,9 % 

8

11,1 % 

Canada 8 

6,2 % 

1

1,4 % 

Germany 7 

5,4 % 

4

5,6 % 

Sweden 7 

5,4 % 

2

2,8 % 

Spain 6 

4,6 % 

5

6,9 % 

Ireland 5 

3,8 % 

4

5,6 % 

Transnational 4 

3,1 % 

1

1,4 % 

Brazil 4 

3,1 % 

2

2,8 % 

Italy 4 

3,1 % 

2

2,8 % 

The Netherlands 

3 

2,3 % 

1

1,4 % 

Denmark 2 

1,5 % 

1

1,4 % 

Finland 2 

1,5 % 

1

1,4 % 

Turkey 2 

1,5 % 

0

0,0 % 

Austria 1 

0,8 % 

0

0,0 % 

Belgium 1 

0,8 % 

0

0,0 % 

China 1 

0,8 % 

1

1,4 % 

Cyprus 1 

0,8 % 

0

0,0 % 

Iceland 1 

0,8 % 

1

1,4 % 

India 1 

0,8 % 

1

1,4 % 

Israel 1 

0,8 % 

0

0,0 % 

Japan 1 

0,8 % 

0

0,0 % 

New Zealand 

1 

0,8 % 

1

1,4 % 

South Africa 

1 

0,8 % 

1

1,4 % 

France 0 

0,0 % 

1

1,4 % 

Mexico 0 

0,0 % 

1

1,4 % 

Sum 

130  

72

The home countries of the researchers (Ireland, Norway, UK, and Portugal) are likely 

overrepresented in the analysis because the researchers have better knowledge of their home 

22