<p>Online</a> courses help SUNY expand reach, work with schools</p>
<p>I have no confidence that the current SUNY Chancellor cares about the quality of education. I hope this move does not result less-valued SUNY diplomas.</p>
<p>I was not able to read the article. My daughter goes to SUNY and is currently taking an on- line course, but not a class required for her major. Many of her friends who do not go to SUNY are also taking online courses. Without reading the article it’s hard to comment.</p>
<p>Two, I am sorry. A few online courses, not in major, OK. It should not be a major initiative.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/216358/37/SUNY-Partners-With-Free-Online-Course-Provider[/url]”>http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/216358/37/SUNY-Partners-With-Free-Online-Course-Provider</a></p>
<p>I think part of my problem is I do not have confidence that the Chancellor will role this out in a way that respects education.</p>
<p>Interesting. I do not have a problem with an online course here or there, but certainly not to fulfill a major. My daughter’s major is governed by a national organization that sets the guidelines for schools in this country. There is no way that her major can be completed on line.</p>
<p>I just sat for an online AI course on the EdX platform provided by Berkeley, I am an old(ish) person. The mechanism for delivery of the class material, the real-time TA support, the quizzes and tests supporting the class material all make for a very compelling educational experience. After sitting through a semester of the identical course offered to current Berkely students it has changed my opinion about the value of online courses. I am thoroughly convinced over the next decade we will see a sea change in the way a typical college education will be provided.</p>
<p>If you have not already done so sit for one of the current offerings provided by EdX or Coursera it may change your mind about SUNY’s plans.</p>
<p>KMR, I do not think that on-line courses have adequate mechanisms for preventing cheating, nor do they provide appropriate help for less motivated students.</p>
<p>I agree that technology is here and it will absolutely be embraced by the colleges. It’s happening in the k-12 schools as well as many state tests are starting to be given on line. I see it as a positive, but not something that can possibly fulfill an entire major at this point. I guess it depends on the major.</p>
<p>Why harp on SUNY? It’s happening in many colleges both public and private. </p>
<p>One of my sons took a few online courses during his winter breaks. According to him (a very academic student), they were harder than classes taught within classrooms. Why? You just can’t sit in the back of the classroom and not participate. You have to log on at specific times and engage in online discussions. You also have to be very self disciplined to get the assignments and papers completed and handed in ON TIME (what a novel idea 
). </p>
<p>This is not a SUNY issue.</p>
<p>If a student is unmotivated, too bad. That’s not a fault of the college. Maybe the student should get motivated.
Enough with the hand holding.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to harp on SUNY, its just that I really dislike the Chancellor, and don’t trust her to do the right thing. I do not see a lot of oversight. She seems more focused on public/private partnerships, etc.</p>
<p>My kids have taken online courses at SUNY, even for their major. I don’t think they were less work but they were great for flexibility and during summer breaks allowed the kids to do classwork around summer job hours. I agree some classes don’t work online, but when they do I would encourage them. It is a terrible idea for anyone to go to class with a 102 degree fever or miss a job interview slot just because there is no alternative to being present in a classroom at a certain time of day.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the problem people have with online courses. Many require you to take proctored test so that deters cheating. Others are paper-based or discussion-based. At least at my U, they are listed as the same course so no one will know whether it was online or not. I took probably a dozen online classes during undergrad. </p>
<p>With that said, I’m not entirely sure I understand the article. Are they going to allow college credit for Coursera courses? If so, I disagree with that. However, if they’re just pushing to expand into virtual classes and open up campuses more then I think it’s great. </p>
<p>It looks like they’re going to require an examination and then give transfer credits. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’m currently taking a biostats class through Coursera in order to test out of my biostats requirement this fall, but I won’t be getting credit for it. I’m fine with people using it to test out of low level classes, but I’m not sure about using an examination to get credit…</p>
<p>SUNY Empire - the on line part of SUNY has traditionally not required proctored exams (except for accounting). Even with proctored, and “identification” required, I think it could be better, like requiring pictures, and keeping on file.</p>
<p>It’s not a SUNY issue. There are cheaters at all colleges. Yes, even the Ivy’s. </p>
<p>[The</a> 10 Biggest College Cheating Scandals - Business Insider](<a href=“The 10 Biggest College Cheating Scandals”>The 10 Biggest College Cheating Scandals)
^here’s a short list of some of cheating scandals.</p>
<p>It’s very common to have take home exams in higher level classes due to time consuming essays on the exams. My sons have had many take home college exams which were not proctored. This is nothing new. It happens at both highly ranked privates as well as publics.</p>
<p>There will always be students who try to cheat their way through courses whether taught online or within the classroom walls. Again, this is not an issue limited to SUNY’s or online courses.</p>
<p>In some cases, it is a real benefit. My daughter graduated suny with a dietetics degree that requires a year long unpaid internship. She is now working on that while enrolled in an online masters program at Suny. There would be no other way to accomplish both if not for online.</p>
<p>Excerpt from an article from Inside Higher Education</p>
<p>Some faculty leaders were surprised this week when state systems and flagship universities in nine states announced a series of new business partnerships with Coursera, the Silicon Valley-based ed tech company.
The universities plan to work with Coursera, a provider of massive open online courses, to try out a variety of new teaching methods and business models, including MOOCs and things that are not MOOCs. Administrators and the company hailed the effort as new way to improve education. Some administrators said the faculty were involved or were part of the effort and the contracts themselves make clear faculty have some decision-making authority.
But some faculty leaders were nevertheless caught off-guard by the deals that were widely reported Thursday in national and local media. Some faculty accused Coursera and the state-funded universities of working together to experiment on students.
On the other end of the spectrum, some faculty had talked beforehand with administrators about the deal and were cautiously optimistic the arrangements could create new opportunities for students. Still, even they warned, there were lines both the company and the universities should not cross without further faculty involvement.
We are concerned that there is an experiment being done on students and we dont know the outcome but it could jeopardize their higher education, said Eileen Landy, the elected secretary of United University Professions, the bargaining union for faculty at 30 of the State University of New Yorks 64 campuses. She said union leaders were left in the dark until the deal was announced and said there could be collective bargaining implications of the new arrangements.
SUNY hopes to use Coursera to help with an effort to enroll 100,000 more students over the next several years. Administrators portrayed that effort, known as Open SUNY, as having faculty support.
Ken O’Brien, the president of the SUNY system’s University Faculty Senate, which has a less contentious relationship with administrators than the union, said there was not broad consultation with system faculty before SUNY signed with Cousera. </p>
<p>Read more: [Amid</a> coordinated effort to transform higher ed with Coursera, some faculty remained in the dark | Inside Higher Ed](<a href=“Amid coordinated effort to transform higher ed with Coursera, some faculty remained in the dark”>Amid coordinated effort to transform higher ed with Coursera, some faculty remained in the dark)
Inside Higher Ed</p>
<p>Union leaders left in the dark—good. Maybe good changes will happen if schools continue to make decisions without consulting union leaders.</p>