Kevin Carey in the Washington Post has a fascinating article looking at the future of high education. According to Carey, there's going to be a whole lot more University of Phoenix and a lot less lecture halls in the next years. Carey weighs the pros and cons of this trend.
The day is coming — sooner than many people think — when a great
deal of money is going to abruptly melt out of the higher education
system, just as it has in scores of other industries that traffic in
information that is now far cheaper and more easily accessible than it
has ever been before. Much of that money will end up in the pockets of
students in the form of lower prices, a boon and a necessity in a time
when higher education is the key to prosperity. Colleges will
specialize where they have comparative advantage, rather than trying to
be all things to all people. A lot of silly, too-expensive things —
vainglorious building projects, money-sucking sports programs, tenured
professors who contribute little in the way of teaching or research —
will fade from memory, and won’t be missed.
But other parts of
those institutions will be threatened too — vital parts that support
local communities and legitimate scholarship, that make the world a
more enlightened, richer place to live. Just as the world needs the
foreign bureaus that newspapers are rapidly shutting down, it needs
quirky small university presses, Mughal textile historians, and people
who are paid to think deep, economically unproductive thoughts …
There is an unstable, treacherous future ahead for institutions that
have been comfortable for a long time. Like it or not, that’s the
higher education world to come.
I haven't seen enough online classes in operation to really determine if this is a good or a bad development. Working students seem to love these programs, because they can "attend class" after work hours. Classes that involve a lot of memorization and have little class discussion are probably fine online.
But I just can't imagine that that an online class can ever replicate the immediacy of a rousing classroom debate about the death penalty or gun control. Yes, we can have great debates in the comment sections of blogs, but, truly, it's a lot more fun when I can look you in the eye and speak without taking the time to spell check. (Not that I do that often enough on this blog, but you know what I mean.)
I've also heard complaints about the quality and the lack of availability of instructors who teach the online classes.
Still, there is no question that the pressure to provide online classes is increasing. There's the demand from working students and from state legislatures that are unable or unwilling to subsidize higher education. Universities see those classes as a quick buck.
Online education is coming, but only for students who work and can't afford a traditional college experience. The middle class will leave a traditional campus kicking and screaming. It's a rite of passage for them, and the quality of instruction is much better in a lecture hall. In some cases, their devotion to the idea of green campuses and fraternities is so irrational that parents are willing to pay $40,000 for tuition to a private college when they can get a better education down the block at a public college for a fraction of the cost.
Yes, online education is coming, but only for some students.
Apt. 11d 
other parts of those institutions will be threatened too — vital parts that…
have 11 large men trying to move a ball past 11 other large men.
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But it’s never going to be football that gets the axe.
And the universities that go under aren’t going to be the ones with monster football teams, anyway.
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And the universities that go under aren’t going to be the ones with monster football teams, anyway.
I wasn’t complaining. I like college football and both my alma maters are currently top 25. My current employer isn’t ranked, but is 4-1.
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Our local high school is reportedly experimenting with online AP courses.
If the college degree is only a check mark on a resume, then online institutions will fit the bill. I agree that I’d prefer my child attend a physical college, with full professors. Will we be able to afford it, though? I don’t think the annual rise in college tuition can be sustained. I suspect it became too expensive for most families some years back, but the problem was camouflaged by easy credit.
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tenured professors who contribute little in the way of teaching or research
In the medical side of things, that is already nearly gone with the exception of a few grandfathered in and another few who have such good connections they help those who do research to get grants.
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The problem is not online classes (which I don’t think will replace campus classes for the traditional college student, anyway), but rather the Phoenix model.
Classes that involve a lot of memorization and have little class discussion are probably fine online.
Actually, I think they would be deadly dull online and I’m grateful to have not taught them. Of course, I think they would be deadly dull on campus, too.
But I just can’t imagine that that an online class can ever replicate the immediacy of a rousing classroom debate
Replicate? Generally no, but depends if you’re using synchronous or asynchronous technology. The flip side, however, is that students can think through their responses and give them more thought. What you lack in immediacy and visible passion you might gain in reflection and depth.
I’ve also heard complaints about the quality and the lack of availability of instructors who teach the online classes.
And I’ve heard the same about instructors who teach campus classes, too, and who show up unprepared, who take weeks to do grading and then give back papers without feedback and who are not available outside of class. Just check ratemyprofessors for plenty of comments to that effect — some even thoughtfully written.
I teach at a large research university, where I am tenured. My department has an online degree program, and it is the regular tenured faculty who teach in that program as part of our regular load. The faculty design the courses. We cap them at 20 students and we have a TA in most courses, too.
Want a rousing debate? We have plenty of them in our online classes.
Want to see some quality instruction? Again, evident in our online classes.
Are our classes full of memorization and lacking discussion? Not at all. In fact, any memorization that occurs is merely as an enabler (e.g. learning the key terms and concepts of the class) so we can engage in analytic tasks. Our students are engaged in research and design projects, work in virtual teams, provide peer critiques, etc.
And finally, are the instructors largely absent or difficult to reach? I can’t speak for them all, but as a program administrator I’ve not heard complaints and I know my colleagues are regularly answering emails and having chat sessions with students in addition to the discussion board interactions. They’re not available 24/7, but neither are professors for campus courses — some of whom may not respond to messages outside of class time and office hours.
I’d say maybe we’re an exceptional program, but I’ve taught in three other such online programs at research universities and had basically the same experience (one while a graduate student and the other two while in full-time employ — one visiting asst professor position and one tenure line).
The business model for Phoenix and friends, however, is different. Consider my remarks here not just about Phoenix, but the model used by a number of for-profit online schools (and that some non-profits have tried, too). They use mostly part-time labor and the instructors tend to have little control over their own classes. The classes are highly designed to be fairly “instructor-proof,” IMHO because they know that some instructors will flake out and that they don’t pay enough to expect the instructors to do such things themselves. It’s a quality control mechanism for them.
Online classes (properly designed and well taught) can be an important part of our educational system. Not only do they allow working professionals and stay at home moms the flexibility they may need to finish their degrees, but they also fill some needs of more traditional students. First, the availability of online classes can help out students who get into some sort of scheduling snafu or who are engaged in internships and field experiences that make attending a MWF 9 am campus section difficult. And second, it’s good experience for college students to work on their online communication (other than facebook, that is) and gain skills in virtual teamwork.
Anyway, just another perspective on what online education can be and is like at some institutions: different from campus classes, but not necessarily of lesser quality or effectiveness.
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Selective universities will stay, and the Medallion universities will continue to thrive, as long as the people paying (mostly parents) care more about the credential than about the actual education of their children. That will be for a very long time to come, I think. The non-selective universities, whose credentials are not worth as much, are the ones who are most threatened in the short term by Phoenix; and they have to meet the challenge.
As Vanessa indicates, really high quality education that develops complex cognitive skills is quite do-able online, but is very expensive to do; to provide that, the Phoenixes need to step things up.
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Vanessa’s comments are right — online instruction, done well (i.e. to educate the students and not just to give them a passing grade without actual learning having occurred) is possibly even more labour-intensive on the part of instructors and students than the current model.
I can reach and facilitate discussion in a classroom of eighty (my Western Civ students are rocking my world this year!) with much less time and effort than I could envision reaching eighty students online. I would have to break the course down into multiple sections and I’d be requiring them to post discussions that would then have to be read and analyzed by myself or a TA.
I teach a number of mixed classes and getting students to really engage online takes focus on both our parts as well as a lot of commitment from the students. I know someone who teaches frequently in a place that’s quasi Phoenix-like and the number of students who crash and burn because they’re trying to fake their work since they figure no one can tell this isn’t their own work? It’s astonishing.
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I teach an online class. I am trying to get out of ever doing it again. It’s hard work to do it right. 🙂 Alas, I am teaching one next term.
I won’t get into the details, but we recently had the opportunity to ask a couple hundred students to write an essay about whether or not our university should offer online classes and, if so, would they take an online class. The students overwhelming indicated they prefer face-to-face classes to online classes. They can see why online classes would be necessary in some cases, but given the choice, they would prefer to be in a classroom.
I don’t think higher ed will substantially change because of the availability of online courses.
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“I don’t think higher ed will substantially change because of the availability of online courses.”
Well, people used to talk about distance learning being the solution to everything back in the old days, even for K-12, and it certainly hasn’t changed things.
But, I do think that online education will have an impact on a segment of the education market: those who need credentialing, not “education”. And by this, I mean people who need to have a form signed off saying that they’ve done something for licensing or legal purposes (especially people who already have jobs): think continuing legal & medical education, some forms of teacher education, ethics education, etc.
I think that some forms of community college education are also going to fall under this category. I don’t think the online stuff is going to replace the gate-keeper characteristics of college education, where passing a course is supposed to prove that you’re a certain kind of thinker (either with grades or recommendation letters or by merely being accepted into the program). I don’t think it’s going to replace the experience-gaining characteristic (i.e residential colleges and the role they play in the education of the American elite).
But I think its going to fray around the educations the “service” course load taught by some large departments, at community colleges and public universities (including high-profile public universities, who will have multi-tier systems operating).
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“Well, people used to talk about distance learning being the solution to everything back in the old days, even for K-12, and it certainly hasn’t changed things.”
For particular individuals or in particular settings (rural schools, etc.), distance learning is a godsend. As I’ve mentioned here before, I did some intro Russian in high school via the University of Washington’s Distance Learning office. I had a textbook, some language tapes, and I’d send in my assignments (written work and audiocassettes) by mail. There was a time lag because of the mail. I could have used a little bit more supervision, but distance learning was surprisingly helpful even for a language.
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bj, I agree about the credentialing aspect of online learning.
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bj and Wendy — I think that’s right — it already had a big impact in teaching (advancement and licensing credits) where all you need is a piece of paper, not any kind of actual education. There is a question about whether this will, eventually, lead to changes in licensing laws and teacher contracts — I hope so, eventually, but there is a very entrenched set of interests here.
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but there is a very entrenched set of interests here.
Yes. For example, why can’t an under-employed Ph.D in history be allowed to take a one semester training course in secondary education, spend one semester practice teaching, and become a high school teacher?
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Humility, please. Students make the schools education; romantic opportunities leading to matrimony; lifelong networking. Harvard is the greatest university ever to exist and rightly so. Priceless. [Not a Harvard Alumnus]
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