What’s So Funny about Online Education?
I don’t know if you caught it, but NPR recently broadcast a series on the increasing popularity of online education in the United States. This is definitely true in Nevada where online education has become an increasingly important aspect of the state’s higher education strategy. Hey, with our poor high school to college rate, you gotta do whatever you can in this state to convince people college is a worthwhile endeavor. Thanks to the state’s rural population and the geographical distance between our northern and southern population centers, many students don’t have any other choice but to take many of their courses online. There is still a stigma attached to online degrees from non-traditional colleges and universities; however, the author of this post believes that as online education becomes more popular, even online degrees from online institutions will loose the stigma they once had:
The increasing use of online technology by traditional schools, I think, is what’s really paving the way for acceptance of online college degrees. Once you accept that the University of Illinois can hand out a perfectly worthwhile degree to students in Nebraska, it’s a short step to realizing that your job applicant’s degree from an online-only college might not be so bad either.
But in this Washington Post article, they note that Kaplan Inc’s Concord Law School is having trouble getting recognition from the American Bar Association:
In some cases, however, the opportunity has moved faster than the acceptance. In 1998, Kaplan Inc. (which is owned by The Washington Post Co.) started Concord Law School, the first JD program that is completely online, with 33 students. So far, it has awarded degrees to 229 students in 38 states, and 1,800 students are currently enrolled. But the American Bar Association does not recognize the degree, effectively prohibiting students from taking the bar exam in most states.
Barry A. Currier, the dean, said the school is undeterred. “I think things will change. We just have to take baby steps,” he said. “We don’t want to bully or scream our way into legitimacy, but once people see what we do over time, the degrees will be accepted.”
What do you think? Will online degrees from online college’s like Concord be accepted? University of Phoenix’s School of Advanced Studies is now allowed to offer Ph.D. degrees in both industrial/organizational psychology and higher education administration, but how seriously will their degrees be taken inside those industries?
Students turn to non-traditional institutions for a reason. Perhaps they do a better job of offering students what they need when they need it? Maybe they’re just better at marketing? Their labor costs are certainly lower since most of their employees and faculty tend to be part-time. Regardless, online colleges and universities wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t a market.
I’m fascinated by the stigma attached to online institutions, because it comes mainly from traditional brick and mortar higher ed institutions for various reasons (intellectual property and labor concerns as well as the principle of academic freedom to name a few). However, the better online institutions have a done a good job of developing standardized curricula that facilitate easy assessment of student learning–something that most traditional higher ed institutions have not been able to master thanks in part to their very independence, “academic freedom,” and lack of standardization.
There is no one size fits all solution for students, and we should get to the point where no one is ashamed of their college degree, no matter where and how the take their classes. I know I would not have made a good online student, but I also had the option not to be. However, its a shame that students can graduate with a degree (A J.D. from Concord Law for instance) and not be accepted into their state bar. Situations like that need to be resolved asap.
As an aside, I ran across this student-focused online education site which has a great name.
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As I can still recall snoring my way through many a boring, required college course in taxfunded buildings, I am all for online education.
YT suddenly finds one’s self wondering what it takes to rear a child these days…
Oh Shit…