<p>Interesting concept.</p>
<p>For the most part, online classes really suck. I think anyone advocating them as a good substitute for real classes clearly has not taken one before.</p>
<p>There appear to be a few folks who might not agree that online courses are so bad.</p>
<p>[Stanford</a>, Open University surpass 50M downloads on iTunes U](<a href=“http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/04/03/stanford_open_university_surpass_50m_downloads_on_itunes_u.html]Stanford”>Stanford, Open University surpass 50M downloads on iTunes U | AppleInsider)</p>
<p>The article says that “Minerva” will only be 100% online the first year. The plan is to open up campuses in different countries and require students to rotate residency in subsequent years. So it’s not really an “online college” model in the strict sense.</p>
<p>I keep hearing about how online education will supplant bricks and mortar. I really doubt it. People go to college for a lot of reasons, not just to acquire information or credentials. There is a social aspect to education that online courses just can’t provide. There is no online substitute for spending 3-4 years physically in the company of very smart people united for a common purpose.</p>
<p>“I keep hearing about how online education will supplant bricks and mortar. I really doubt it.”</p>
<p>I tend to agree. But then again, i was one of those who used to say “I doubt Amazon will take off. I like to browse bookstores, etc.”. </p>
<p>Now all our reading is on Kindles, Kindle Ipad apps, etc.</p>
<p>I loved all the online classes I took. If I could do it over again I’d probably only take a handful of the classes that were MOST interesting to me in a “traditional” classroom… I’d do everything else online. My learning style for most things is to teach myself, even in a traditional class I tended to self-direct my own learning and only pay enough attention to whatever else was going on to get my assignments in and participate in discussions. I don’t tend to grasp anything otherwise.</p>
<p>I’ve been trying to find a viable opportunity for me to continue my education online now that isn’t just going to be a scam or a waste of money, and it seems like not many schools have programs that are 100% online. I haven’t found anything I could look into yet. I think it will be a long, long time before online could supplant brick and mortar schools… I don’t think it ever really will completely-- as there are a lot of things you get from the “traditional” college experience that you can’t get any other way, but I think online courses may become more acceptable to society and much more widely available as an alternative. Especially for non-traditional students. Right now they seem to not be entirely socially acceptable, nor are they widely available.</p>
<p>Emaheevul07,
I don’t know what your field is, but many universities offer online programs or various kinds aimed at allowing working professionals to get a masters or continuing education certificate, and have been doing so for years. This is especially common in business and engineering. These degrees are considered the equivalent to the ones on-campus students get, and the diploma looks exactly the same.</p>
<p>traditional education is going to undergo a radical transformation (I know, that’s not really a profound statement). But as has been already identified up thread - nobody originally thought online would replace; shopping malls (people want to get out of the house… really?), Books (Amazon), Music/CD’s and software (all digitally downloaded now).</p>
<p>Kids relate differently to each other now. Go to an office! you can hear a pin drop in most, as people tap on keyboards, emailing and IM’ing. I have “generation x’ers or y’ers” (I can’t keep up anymore - call 'em 20 somethings) sending me emails and skypes and IM’s from a few doors down! Phones ringing? used to be deafening 10 years ago. Now, I can go all day and NOT hear a phone ring.</p>
<p>Oh, its changing people. IT IS CHANGING. And education (how we learn) will be different.</p>
<p>My girlfriend recently finished her MS by taking night/online classes at a nearby private fairly well known for their engineering program. Both of us can say with 100% certainty that her online classes weren’t nearly as effective as being in an actual program where you meet physically with other students in the same room, can interact with them before/after, and there’s definitely less group work and collaboration which happens.</p>
<p>Having classes available online as a reference is a fantastic tool. I know a handful of classes I took in undergrad had that feature, and I really enjoyed it as a way to refresh on a topic when I didn’t quite hear an explanation during class. I could possibly see education going the way that Khan sees, where lectures are watched in your dorm, then different sections are held which help you work through problems and understand the material in a different way than a lecture would.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t foresee the college campus going away any time soon. There are way too many things that go on outside of the classroom that make the academic experience worthwhile. After all, why do you need lectures in the first place? Typically professors are just regurgitating things that could easily be found in any number of texts, so why not just get the education through your library?</p>
<p>you’re missing the point - if personal, physical collaboration isn’t happening in the workplace? why should it be the determining factor in education?</p>
<p>I believe that a mix of the two is ideal. Online classes do help to prepare you for what you will be working with in the work environment now. However, you will have the need to interact face to face effectively as well. There is no reason why a school can be set up for both, in a much broader sense than most schools are now. </p>
<p>But ultimately, I believe that there will be three types of students:
- Those that hate going on campus to take classes when they can do it online
- Those that hate being forced to take online classes when they would rather be in a classroom
- Those that just want to take the class however they can to get it over with!! No preference for online or in person.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>How common is this impersonal workplace, actually? Most professionals have jobs that require a lot of complex human interaction, often in groups. I suppose some low-level clerical jobs (data entry, etc.) don’t require much interaction, but those aren’t the kinds of jobs most people are striving to be educated for. Texting and email have sometimes replaced the phone to convey information, but you still need to have meetings and discuss things to make decisions. And with privacy becoming such a concern, I know many people who are returning to talking on the phone so that their words won’t be used against them. Texts and emails aren’t protected by privacy laws. </p>
<p>To reverse your question: why should the workplace be the determining factor in college education? Collegiality is a defining hallmark of college. There is a balance between working alone and working with others.</p>
<p>Technology in learning will be the great equalizer. When the Khan Academy, college courses and other online systems are all fully developed in another 10 to 20 years, access to quality education will no longer be limited to the wealthy and savvy. The most important quality that will determine a child’s outcome will be his/her self-discipline and motivation for learning, something in itself that can be developed with the proper online exposure from a young age. Both local schools and college campuses will become learning centers that will have as their core mission providing supplementary services for the community–a venue for clubs or groups to meet for academic discussions, lab experimentation, sports, music, theatre, etc. Teachers will still be very much needed for tutoring and leading topic discussions (although online discussion groups will also be ubiquitous). The greatest administrative challenge will be scheduling logistics. </p>
<p>This is why I am not worried about the cost of my (potential) grandchildren’s education. I know it will be a whole different world by the time they are of that age is some 30 years.</p>
<p>NJSue - I appreciate your challenge.</p>
<p>I am a Sr. Manager of a division of the largest (fortune 100) company in our field. I’ve moved through the ranks of 4 such organizations over a 25 year career.</p>
<p>Offices are becoming warehouses. People work from home/telecommute more than ever - we lease 1/3rd the space, although we have twice as many employees, as we did 10 years ago. Your statement;</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>is not accurate.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Isn’t that comparing apples to oranges, though? I still see people reading actual books alongside Kindles (I have one). Bookstores, those that are open, are alive and well. Same with libraries. My city library is packed on certain days and hours.</p>
<p>I think online classes are beneficial, but it all depends on who is sponsoring it. I don’t think Phoenix University online to be on par with Stanford’s online classes unless the set up and professor are the same.,</p>
<p>The change isn’t going to happen overnight - it will take years. It’s subtle, but very evident.</p>
<p>Books are being replaced. Look at the Newsprint industry? City Library’s have had to bring in digital media and computers to stay busy (and too many people ignorantly equate “busy” with “valuable” but that’s a different argument).</p>
<p>Human interaction is changing. 10 years ago, I felt lucky to get an email a day, now I get 100 an hour.</p>
<p>Borrowed from Roger Shank</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Google the name Shank, or education outrage or socraticarts, for the explanations. Online courses are not the combination of taping a live class and clouding it. </p>
<p>Online courses have a bright future ahead of them. Too bad that … the present really, really sucks.</p>
<p>The arguments against online taking over, are the same tired arguments that fail(ed) against charter schools, home schools and to a lesser degree, trade schools.</p>
<p>You don’t need big “bee hives” of activity and interaction to be engaged. On the contrary - personal, individualized and tailored education is what is available through online and other “virtual” mediums. In almost no scenario, does the argument for “grouped” learning, hold water.</p>
<p>Like I said; its not the norm now. And its radically different than people are comfortable with, and so it will be disparaged and denigrated. But it will eventually win out.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>While we could argue about the theoretical value of group learning, collaborative or interactive learning, there is no doubt that there is no IS in the availability of “personal, individualized and tailored education.” Except for a very small subset of education, the present is mythical. We all think we might have seen something that works, but nobody has experienced it.</p>
<p>Being taught by a Stanford or MIT professor seems valuable, but a student can do that through Massive Online Open Courses, or MOOCs. Same course, same professor – free. And students taking the traditional classroom course on campus (for $60,000 per year) are deciding that they prefer the online version. As one professor admitted, it makes much more economic sense. “We can probably get the same quality of education I teach in class for 1-2 percent of the cost,” Stanford Prof. Alan Thrun told the New York Times.</p>
<p>[Faulty</a> directions to elite learning | StarTribune.com](<a href=“http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/146482775.html]Faulty”>http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/146482775.html)</p>