The US Congress has just approved some legislation that will likely fuel the growth of online institutions of higher learning. The US government enacted legislation in 1992 that required universities and colleges to have half of their courses taught on a physical campus in order to qualify for federal student aid. Thanks to effective lobbying and the support of some key Republicans, Congress has now removed this restriction on federal aid for post-secondary institutions.
Here's one of the more interesting passages from the NY Times:
"This is a growth industry and you get rich not by being skeptical, but by being enthusiastic," said Henry Levin, director of Columbia University's National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education.
People at the academic conferences will say they did a survey about Internet-based education, but there are a lot of phantom statistics," he said, "and it's all very promotional. We have not found a single rigorous study comparing online with conventional forms of instruction."
How fast the college landscape will change is uncertain. Sean Gallagher, a senior analyst at Eduventures, a Boston research firm, predicted that the proportion of students taking all their classes online could rise over the next 10 years or so to 25 percent from the current 7 percent.
So essentially, the method is in its infancy and there is no substantial data about the relative efficacy of this form of learning as of yet. That said, one doesn't have to look too far to see the potential of the internet as a means of acquiring and building networks of knowledge which are ultimately the most important functions of any university or college. Even collaborative aspects of learning can be replicated with good design and savvy usage of technology by the students. The bottom line is that the passage of this bill will probably mean a rapid increase in the development of online post-secondary education, not only in the US but also in Canada. While great care and effort has to be put into monitoring the quality and legitimacy of the educational experience these online institutions will offer, there's little reason why the majority of courses taught at universities can't be offered by online institutions. Especially when you consider there is such a large pool of underemployed or underpaid PhD holders out there that could create the content and manage the service. Not to mention the hordes of disaffected undergraduates who would gladly jump at the opportunity to study online in order to avoid incurring an enormous student loan debt.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
Nice piece Akeel, you've hit the irony (paradox?) on the head: academic institutions, the big battleships they are, are very slow to adopt technological change while the very researchers who are employed by them take part in many of the most cutting edge endeavors imaginable.
2 - Frank Summers
With some trepidation, I signed up last summer to complete my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, specializing in IT from Colorado Technical University. I already had a BS degree in Geology from the 1970’s from an unnamed state university. I was apprehensive in doing this, but my career crashed a few years ago and I am desperate to get a decent one back ($60k/yr cut to $20k/yr isn’t pretty). With my work schedule, a traditional campus-based plan is completely out of the question. I have been very happy so far with the results of my decision. The tools made available to us students by CTU include live chat, IM, discussion boards and email. The instructors I have had so far are experienced consultants in their respective fields (business and/or academic), hold masters or doctorate degrees, or are doctorial candidates.
The course material is created by an education committee and focuses on real-world scenarios, from which we build our knowledge about the subject materials by writing short papers, PowerPoint presentations and discussion board postings with required comments to our peers’ postings. Each class session also requires a group project where a group of 5-6 students have to work together on a project. To keep students honest, ethical and disciplined, CTU has an extraordinary anti-plagiarism policy and will not tolerate even a hint of it. All papers must be submitted in APA format with proper citations and references. Instructors will not allow students just regurgitate what they read in the papers. We are required to THINK for ourselves. All papers are graded on straight percentile scales. No grading curves used at all. Also, papers must be turned in on-time (Midnight of date-due). The official clock is the virtual campus server time. If submission of a paper is even one-minute late, the score is docked by 5%.
With my previous education credited to my academic plan, my program started at the junior level. I am now half way through the accelerated program used by the school and will graduate in November of this year. I have actually found this experience to be more satisfying to me than when I went to school in the 70’s. I have met a diverse group of people and enjoy working with them on projects. I really do think that this will be a major way of obtaining higher education in the future, as long as the accreditation organizations are vigilant in ensuring that diploma mills do not flourish in this space.
3 - RJ Elliott
I earned my AA from a Community College, and a sizable portion of the classes were online.
I earned my BS from a public University and nearly all of my classes were online.
And I have just been accepted into a graduate program at a public University that will allow me
(if I choose) to take ALL of my classes online!
It is very convenient for me to be able to continue my education at a University that is relatively far away, and while continuing to work the bizarre hours my present job requires of me.
Online education (from credible Colleges/Universities) is the wave of the future!
4 - James
Its hard to tell if its worth the cost of going to school online when its often the same price as going to school in person