Online learning

The best moments on a blog occur when a conversation is sparked and readers engage with one another, or with the blogger, and minds are changed. I'm happy to report that I've had several of those moments while writing this blog over the past few months. Here are a few recent highlights:

A post asking whether online higher education will replace the bricks-and-mortar kind inspired a flurry of informed comments, including many from people who had worked in online education or taken online courses themselves. Readers pointed out that students need to do their homework before enrolling in online courses to verify whether an online institution is accredited, whether course credits will transfer to other schools, and whether online courses even make sense for a given course of study. Readers who had been students of online education weighed in on the benefits (convenience, affordability) and drawbacks (absence of a physical community, wide disparity in quality of programs) of online education. They also challenged my choice of headline ("Will online education replace the Ivy League"), which suggested that the future of elite private educational organizations was the big issue with online education, when there are so many (and probably more important) issues to talk about when it comes to online learning. Read More »