Virtual campus draws virtually no students
Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:51PM EDT
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Gotta give them some credit: The University of Illinois put together an audacious program designed to wean students from the crutch of having to actually, you know, go to classes and stuff. The Global Campus is a $3 million program that offers coursework through the Internet instead of in person. The University is now using it to offer several degree plans... to a total of 10 students.
U of I's leadership is massaging the accusation that its virtual coursework is a failure, saying that it's too soon to draw any conclusions about the three-month-old program since it won't be heavily promoted until September, when several new classes will be added to the online offerings. By then, admins say, more than 100 students should be using Global Campus.
But even that may be optimistic: Global Campus had 3,000 inquiries into its online nursing courses, but only three people signed up. (The administration responds that the requirement that students already be registered nurses may have had something to do with that.)
Global Campus is perhaps the first major, accredited institution to offer full Bachelor's and Master's degrees online, rather than simply offering prerecorded videos and audio of old classes to the public (without interaction with a professor). Many of its programs have additional, offline requirements, too. To earn an online BBA, for example, you need 60 hours of prerequisites first.
More casual students looking to further their education without the pressures of earning grades can look to some of the other highly-touted online programs. Check out MIT, which drew raves for offering some 1,800 courses for free through its website (though many of the courses are now five or more years old and some date back to 1996). Berkeley also offers webcast and podcast versions of a handful of its courses, though many of the courses are equally dated.
Is online learning still ahead of its time? Sound off in the comments.
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2 Posted by kbrooksmarshall on Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:32AM EDT Report Abuse
Bravo! Keep it up! Every reporter and competitor LOVES low the ratings of others to make themselves seem "all knowing". Remember when a professor laughed at his student when he originated the idea for a company that could deliver packages "overnight"? I know it is a simple refernce but basic needs are what drives us all to be creative. On-line education is fast becoming a basic need. KBM
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3 Posted by agustin2489 on Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:41PM EDT Report Abuse
It's interesting. I have to give it that. However, I don't find it being rather successful until there is more of a human factor added in. There's just something about having to go to a classroom to be taught. Maybe it's just the idea that you have to put in the time commitment for it.
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4 Posted by kupriaa1 on Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:02PM EDT Report Abuse
hey kbrooksmarshall - hate to be the spoiler on your belief that this will be a necessity - but lets see how effective this form of learning is. Very little data is present to analyze how much a student has learned when comparing online vs. a traditional classroom. My guess is that online learning is no where near as effective for as many students as traditional learning. Remember its the quality of the education that counts vs convenience. If the student feels convenience is more important, then the western civ principle of education has failed.
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5 Posted by gruntsdotnet on Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:35PM EDT Report Abuse
I am a student in Global Campus' M.Ed program. I'm in my second course through their program. I'd just like to take exception to the opening of this article. I am a full-time teacher and I coach debate ay my school. This program allows me to earn my degree from a well-respected university without having to live near Urbana-Champaign. Perhaps the author of this article should take some time to research online education to realize that not all online degree programs are created equal. Effective teaching and learning can be accomplished in a classroom, through audio and video, and even through the Internet. I am able to learn and complete learning activities for this degree program in my home and fully collaborate with my classmates through e-mail, video & voice chat, and phone calls. I find it interesting that the author criticizes education without "having to actually, you know, go to classes and stuff" when he can publish his article without having to actually, you know, print it in a newspaper or magazine. John Silva Chicago, IL
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1 Posted by rogueist on Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:55PM EDT Report Abuse
Heh - some hefty pre-requisites there... But dated or not, anything is better than nothing in this day and age, and learning something new is very helpful. With the emphasis put on "having a degree" rather than actual real-world experience, the false image of having the degree needs to be kept, so getting ANY degree in any fashion possible, especially one that is accredited, is worth it for your job... provided they will hire you more than 5 years out of college... such a horrible hiring environment today....