Page 241 - Crisis in Higher Education

212 • Crisis in Higher Education

in major and minor courses than in general education courses, so faculty
must become especially creative in general education courses. The example
of the statistics course in Chapter 7 illustrates that it is possible even in a
quantitative course. It is the responsibility of faculty to achieve student-
centered learning across the curriculum.

10.2.2 Online Programs and Courses

Online learning is the twenty-first century’s version of correspondence
courses, which have been offered by universities for nearly 200 years. The
University of London was the first to offer distance learning degrees in
1828. In the United States, only one-third of the population lived in cities
with 100,000 or more people in 1920, so the correspondence technique
9
became an effective way to reach the rural population. Obviously, com-
puter technology and Internet communication, including video, have
transformed the way distance learning is conducted. Most public universi-
ties offer online courses and some offer online degree programs. Some pri-
vate, not-for-profit universities, like Southern New Hampshire University
and Western Governors University, and many private, for-profit universi-
ties, like the University of Phoenix and Strayer University, have substan-
tial online offerings.

10.2.2.1 Online Learning Concerns

Part of the problem with online learning is that people tend to view new
technology from their current circumstance. Some administrators see
online learning as a budget bonanza. There are no physical classrooms,
so facility costs are much lower; and there are no space limitations, so
class size can be very large—literally thousands of students could be
taught by one instructor. Even with these savings, they are willing to
charge the same tuition for online and classroom classes. Preparing an
online course is thought to be easy because it is only necessary to scan
a copy of the textbook to make an e-book (early on copyrights were
ignored); put the PowerPoint slides and homework problems online;
and have a way to answer students’ questions such as e-mail, group
chats, and texts/instance messaging. Students would submit assign-
ments electronically using e-mail or other technology. The approach
simply “electrifies” the old way without taking advantage of the unique
capability of the technology.