Minnesota governor's initiative: more online college classes

Parents Forum
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Thanks to the technology revolution and a push from Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in higher education, 2009 could prove to be the year of the online college course.</p>

<p>Pawlenty jointly unveiled a plan with the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) Board in November to have 25 percent of MnSCU courses delivered online by the year 2015. Last year, 9.2 percent of all credits awarded at MnSCU universities, community and technical colleges were for classes delivered over the Internet. "We live in an iPod world, but much of our education system is dominated by whiteboards and lecture halls," the governor said with his announcement. "We need to modernize the way college courses are delivered and put Minnesota on the cutting edge of online education."</p>

<p>The MnSCU system includes 32 technical colleges, community colleges and state universities.

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<p>I think this is especially nice for older students or students who are working.<br>
The BusinessNorth.com article I am quoting from is here->
year</a> of the online college course</p>

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<p>This is a good thing for nontraditional students. But I fear that this is an increasing trend for traditional students as well. I know I'm biased in this regard, but I think there is some value to the traditional "live" classroom experience. Sure it can be expensive, and the quality of the experience varies a lot from institution to institution, and course to course. But overall I think there really is much to be said for that kind of experience. Also, many people -- especially the young -- already spend far too much time "interacting" and "communicating" by computer.</p>

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<p>I agree with you, cadbury.</p>