Dicussion of possible fix for the cost of higher education. That's become an election issue, and

[napi21]

this article presents a suggestion/fix for many, if not most degrees.

https://abovethelaw.com/2020/04/if-one-good-thing-could-come-from-this-damn-virus/?utm_campaign=Above%20the%20Law%20Daily&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=86005386&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8eFvQOtbBe4O6680D9hyqF-Z9A6nhngw2TgRCG62l7a5ZP8FXk_GbYB-whh1SJmSFsI9hFR9Ku_En-BKZbtAnrjXzn2Q&_hsmi=86005386

(snip)

While it’s possible not every college course can be taught online, what is clear is that there are distinct advantages to learning online. First, for those who are truly looking to learn something, it provides unparalleled opportunity to focus without distractions. There’s something about the ability to take in a lecture, complete a reading, or write a paper in the peace and quite of a comfortable location. I personally discovered — unfortunately, later in life — that I absorb instruction better and learn a great deal more from online classes.

what do you think?

[Phoenix61]

1. I do much better in a classroom.

My Dad was all about crunching numbers. He noticed when student loans got easier to get colleges increased the number of non-instructional staff. Instead of tuition going down because there were more students, it increased to cover all the additional staff.

[forthemiddle]

2. My husband was 1/2 through his associates degree

When we had to move to another State for his job (he was going to school part time).

He was able to finish the remainder of his courses on line, and he said it was the best thing that could have happened for him.

I also acquired my degree on line and the flexibility of it is the only way I could have done it.

I think virtual schools are the wave of the future.

[genxlib]

3. I completely disagree

Distance learning has its place but I think it would be an enormous mistake to embrace it as described.

My daughter is just "graduating" from high school now. She hates online learning and I don't blame her. I don't think it provides nearly the experience of an in-person classroom.

Now we are faced with the possibility that she may not be able to start real college in the fall. If she finds out that they will be expected to do distance learning, she would be devastated. We are seriously holding out the possibility of taking a gap year so that she can get the full experience a year from now.

The thing about school (college and otherwise) is that it teaches you a great deal more than the content of the classes. A lot of what you learn are life skills that you can't really get online.

Aside from that, there are serious issues with properly reaching all children online. Technological and financial barriers might be manageable but there are real disadvantages to people with certain learning styles. Even now, there are reports of missing kids who simply are not being reached by the conversion to distance learning.

I have no doubt that this whole ordeal will boost online learning to a degree but it would be a mistake to go all in.

[captain queeg]

4. I think the higher education model we have in the US is outdated

First off I don’t think that a college education should be seen as a necessary ticket to getting a good job. If that’s what a person is looking for there should be much more emphasis on technical or trade schools. Apprenticeships should be expanded. I think if you polled students you’d find most are just hoping to land a good job. But the emphasis is on white collar jobs. Electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, all sorts of specialized workers are in demand and make good livings. Having a college education is largely about expanding your mind not preparing you for the work force.

Although online education is great it’s hard for some people to really learn that way, myself included. They were just starting some online classes when I was in school. I think it’s ok for the kind of stuff that’s largely memory based but for myself things like math would be very hard that way. A lot of it is just the discipline necessary and it’s a lot easier to let things slide and get behind in that situation. I guess the country is doing a huge experiment with online learning right now. It would be interesting to find out the results. My son is in college right now but not taking any math this quarter. He tells me he generally gets almost all his work for the week done on Monday. He only has one class that is doing zoom type classes.

Of course we are entering a recession that will be long and deep and it’s hard to say how things will be in a year. I just don’t think we’ll be going back to the way things were. Big societal changes are coming.

[exboyfil]

5. I view college as transactional

Maybe that is the wrong view of it, but my primary goal, and the primary goal of my daughters, was to obtain a credential that led to a professional position as quickly as possible.

Some people seem to think college is there to extend childhood for another four years. I don't see a problem with that so long as you don't expect society to pick up the tab. Frankly many 18-21 year olds don't spend much time thinking great thoughts. The college experience can often be either working your butt off to get through or enjoying the opportunity to continue the social life (parties, football games, etc).

My daughters and I have made liberal use of online learning over the years. It wasn't an option when I was in high school, but I have done a lot online at the Masters level. I think each daughter had at least 40 hours of online credit as part of their degree programs (most of it done while still in high school). Pretty much everything they could do online, they did online. One is an engineer and the other is nurse. The engineer finished her BS engineering program in less than two years after high school graduation. The nurse finished her BS nursing program 15 months after high school graduation.

The thing you miss with online learning is recitation sections where you can ask TAs or Professors questions. I think Rhetoric is important (I debated in high school) so the younger daughter took her speech class on campus. The older daughter did her class online, but it was actually pretty good because she was required to film her speeches in front of a group of people verifying their presence and what notes she had in front of her.