As a former English teacher, I reserve the right to wax old school on certain subjects. One is the subject of ever-increasing online courses in public higher education.
The topic was broached prominently last week by former Gov. Jeb Bush in a co-written column with Randy Best, the founder of Academic Partnerships, a company that–unsurprisingly–designs online courses. The column, utterly relevant to our economically-challenged times, was run by a number of statewide daily newspapers.
Just as Jeb sold FCATs on the seemingly unassailable basis of “accountability” (anyone against “accountability”?), he’s pushing the exponential increase of online instruction in the good name of doing something meaningful to address higher education’s financial reality: decreasing legislative help as costs soar. Doing nothing about the status quo is obviously not an option.
The prioritized online approach has application, but it’s simplistic. That’s because the online experience works best as a complement. For example, those freshman survey courses with a junior instructor, a teaching assistant and 600 students are not to be confused with Plato’s Academy. Online, provided everyone is comfortable with the dynamic, can work and be pragmatically cost effective.
But a lot of courses and disciplines are clearly not suited to the online approach, especially where the premium is on “teacher” and not “presenter.”
No less important, however, is that a university is not a trade school. It’s also a rite-of-passage journey to adulthood, a venue and vehicle for behavioral growth.
Online education has its place, increasingly so. But its place is not as a de facto replacement for the real thing.